Narrative of Events Which Occured in Baltimore - Chapter IV



CHAPTER IV.

A committee of merchants was formed, at the beginning of the year 1779, 
whose duty it appears to have been, to provide a suitable defence for the 
private navigation of the Chesapeake bay. Gallies were provided, and the 
direction of them had been confided to Commodore Nicholson, who, a short 
time before, had lost the Virginia frigate, at the mouth of the Capes, in 
attempting to elude the vigilance of a British squadron stationed there, 
and who, in consequence, had no immediate command. The command of the 
galley Conqueror was bestowed upon him by the committee, with the 
approbation of the governor. The gentlemen who were united with the 
commodore, as officers on board this galley, deemed it proper to petition 
the committee on the subject of the relation which they would hold to the 
committee, in case of their capture. They thought it but reasonable, in 
case such an event should occur, that their wages should go on. They 
present a gloomy prospect of their situation in such a case. The horrors 
of a prison ship were more intimidating to them, than the cannonading of 
an enemy; and it was against these that they wanted some provision made; 
"but," in the language of a patriotism which peculiarly characterizes the 
seamen of America, "should we receive no address, it shall not in the 
least detain our

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services from the cause in which we are now engaged." Their petition was 
granted, and the Conqueror began her cruise. For three months she was 
stationed at and near Cape Henry, and in other parts of the bay. The 
protection she and the others of the squadron gave to the navigation of 
Baltimore, is almost incredible. Commodore Nicholson was one of those men 
who never flagged in any duty he undertook, and the skill with which all 
his maritime operations were conducted, were an earnest of that, which, in 
later days, has so pre-eminently characterized the American seamen.

There was published in Goddard's Maryland Journal of July 6th, 1779, a 
number of queries styled "political and military," evidently tending to 
bring in question the military qualifications of General Washington for 
the august station he then occupied; and to create a prejudice against the 
French nation, which, a short time before, had entered into an alliance 
with the United States. Among the queries which were intended to affect 
the character of General Washington, we select three, as samples of the 
general feeling of the writer towards this illustrious man.

"Whether it is salutary or dangerous, consistent with, or abhorrent from, 
the principles and spirit of liberty and republicanism, to inculcate and 
encourage in the people an idea, that their welfare, safety and glory, 
depend on one man? Whether they really do depend on one man?"

"Whether, amongst the late warm, or rather legal addresses, in this city, 
(Philadelphia) to his excellency General Washington, there was a single 
mortal, one gentleman excepted, who could possibly be acquainted with his 
merits?"

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"Whether this gentleman excepted, does really think his excellency a great 
man, or whether evidences could not be produced of his sentiments being 
quite the reverse?"

The query relative to the French nation was:

"Whether an enlightened member of a French parliament is not a thousand 
times more wretched than a Russian serf or peasant. As to the former, the 
chains, from his sensibility, must be extremely galling; and on the 
latter, they fit as easy as the skin of his back?"

On the publication of these queries, a great deal of excitement was 
produced against the author of them, and a demand was made for him, upon 
Mr. Goddard, by many citizens. Mr. Goddard at first refused to give up his 
name, but when he found that the citizens were determined to know who was 
the calumniator of the venerated chief, Mr. Goddard gave up the name of 
General Charles Lee as their author, and disavowed for himself, any 
intention to reflect on General Washington. He signed a paper of this 
purport: "I, William Goddard, do hereby acknowledge, that by publishing 
certain "queries, political and military," in the Maryland Journal, of the 
6th inst., I have transgressed against truth, justice, and my duty as a 
good citizen; and, in reparation, I do most humbly beg his excellency 
General Washington's pardon, and hope the good people of this town, will 
excuse my having published a piece so replete with the nonsense and 
malevolence of a disappointed man.

W. GODDARD."

Baltimore Town, July 9th, 1779."

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Mr. Goddard, in a subsequent notice of this affair, ascribed the above 
note, which was certainly humiliating enough, to the fear he labored under 
from the violence of the many who required the disavowal from him; and 
that the moment he was relieved from the apprehension of all violence, he 
took the opportunity of communicating the circumstances which produced it. 
We are not the advocates of violence to avenge the wrong which a community 
may have experienced by the actions of an individual; but some apology may 
be found for those who, on this occasion, were desirous of shielding from 
insidious attacks, the fame and character of a man, who, at that time, was 
looked up to as the saviour of their country; knowing that if his 
character were then to be destroyed, the hope would depart for ever, that 
their country was to be free, sovereign, and independent. There was no 
part of America, in which the name of General Washington was held in 
higher veneration than in Baltimore, and there was no place where an 
attempt to sully it, would excite greater sensibility. In these queries, 
there was one of this character: "Whether, when General Howe manifestly 
gave over all thoughts of attacking General Washington, in the last strong 
position in the rear of White Plains, and fell back towards York Island, 
orders should not have been immediately despatched for the evacuation of 
Fort Washington, and for the removal of all the stores of value from Fort 
Lee to some secure spot, more remote from the river? Whether this was not 
proposed, and the proposal slighted?" General Reed, who at this time was 
the president of the supreme executive council of

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Pennsylvania, considering himself, as so particularly alluded to in this 
query, felt it to be his duty not to permit the character of General 
Washington to be attacked through him, and "to guard the public from error 
in opinion," he says: "that in the fall of 1776, he was extremely anxious 
that Fort Washington should be evacuated. There was a difference of 
opinion among those whom the general consulted, and he hesitated more than 
he ever knew him on any other occasion, and more than he thought the 
public service admitted. Knowing that General Lee's opinion would be a 
great support to mine, I wrote to him from Hackensack, stating the case 
and my reasons, and I think urging him to join me in sentiment. At the 
close of my letter, and alluding to this, I added this sentence: 'With a 
thousand good and great qualities, there is a want of decision, to 
complete the perfect military character.' Upon this sentence, or one to 
this effect, wrote in haste, in full confidence, and in great anxiety for 
the event, is this ungenerous sentiment introduced into the world." 
General Lee, if not hostile before, became, after the battle of Monmouth, 
the undisguised enemy of General Washington, and seemed to have embraced 
every occasion to manifest this hostility towards him. These queries were 
about the first of his vindictive ebullitions, and the attempt to make 
them subserve his purpose in Baltimore, was met in the manner in which we 
have now taken notice. That Mr. Goddard had, at all times, been Friendly 
to General Lee, had been long known, for he never concealed his feelings 
towards him; but that he should have taken the method he did to testify 
them, so as to involve the character of

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Washington, was what the friends of this illustrious man could not endure; 
and unhappily, Mr. Goddard was made to feel the consequences of his 
indiscretion. The feelings which these events produced, gradually 
subsided, and the future intercourse of Mr. Groddard, with the people of 
Baltimore, was of so friendly a character, that he resumed the editorship 
of his paper some years after, and continued it until the year 1791, when 
he removed to Rhode Island, his birth place.

We have already remarked on the anxiety which congress had manifested on 
the subject of salt, and whilst their great desire was to secure such a 
supply as would be necessary for all their military purposes, they felt an 
anxiety to avoid its becoming an object of monopoly in the hands of 
speculators. This anxiety was equally felt by the people of Baltimore, and 
to prevent its falling into the hands of those who would thus make use of 
it, a society was formed for purchasing all that should be brought to 
market, and sell it out to the inhabitants for such a sum as would just 
cover the cost. The language of this association was: "We, the 
subscribers, inhabitants of the town and county of Baltimore, viewing with 
great concern, the exhorbitant price to which the article of salt has 
lately risen, and apprehending that the avarice of engrossers, if not 
speedily and vigorously opposed, will soon put that necessary of life out 
of the reach of the industrious poor, both in town and country, do hereby 
associate ourselves together, for the purpose of reducing the price of 
salt, and to prevent, as far as is in our power, the evil consequences 
which must ensue to the community at large, from the pernicious acts of 
speculators and engrossers.

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"To attain these laudable ends, we do, each for himself, engage to pay 
into the hands of a treasurer, to be appointed by the society, the sums of 
money annexed to our respective names; this money to be expended in 
purchasing all the salt which may arrive at the port of Baltimore, in the 
course of two months; which shall be sold out in small quantities, at a 
price barely sufficient to repay the first cost, and defray such expenses 
as may necessarily attend the retailing of it. Witness our hands, this 
14th of October, 1779."

S. & R. Purviance,        £10,000 
William Smith,              5,000 
William Neil,               4,000 
Mark Pringle,               5,000 
Daniel Bowley,              5,000 
John McClure,               5,000 
John Dorsey,                5,000 
William Hammond,            4,000 
Stephen Stewart,            2,000 
H. D. Gough,                3,000 
Thomas Langton,             1,000 
Thomas Burling,             3,000 
J. & T. Hollingsworth,      3,000 
Hugh Young,                 5,000 
James Calhoun,              2,000 
Jonathan Hudson,            3,000 
Richard Curson,             1,000 
Mark Alexander,             2,000 
R. & A. McKim,              2,000 
Matthew Ridley,             5,000 
Amount brought forward,   £75,000

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David Stewart,              5,000 
Thomas Russell,             5,000 
Hughes & Williamson,        2,000 
Gardner & Gales,            2,000 
John Sterret,               1,000 
Samuel Smith,               2,000 
Philip Graybell,            1,000 
                          £93,000

This society accomplished the object for which it was formed, and I find 
no other account of any scarcity of the article during the war.

The states of Delaware and Pennsylvania having laid an embargo on the 
trade of Delaware bay, so that persons residing on the waters and vicinity 
thereof, were prohibited the enjoyment of their accustomed trade. This was 
a measure that was felt very seriously in Maryland. The general assembly 
of Maryland authorized the governor and council to issue a proclamation, 
which they did, prohibiting the exportation from this state of various 
articles, the productions of Maryland, until the day on which the embargo 
in the aforementioned states would cease. This proclamation being issued 
the 9th of September, 1780, the duration of the embargo was until the last 
day of November following. This necessary retaliation on the part of 
Maryland, appears to have been sanctioned by the people without any 
murmuring or discontent.

The general assembly of Maryland passed, in the month of December, "an act 
for calling out of circulation the quota of this state, of the bills of 
credit issued

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by congress, and the bills of credit emitted by acts of Assembly, under 
the old government, and by the resolves of convention." In this law it was 
enacted, "after the 20th of March next, no bills of credit issued by 
congress, or acts of assembly during the old government, or resolves of 
convention, shall, within this state be deemed paper money or pass 
current, or be in law or equity a tender or payment for any debt, 
covenant, promise, contract, or agreement." "The possessors and 
proprietors of any of the aforesaid bills, subjects of this state, or 
trustees for subjects thereof, may, at any time hereafter, on or before 
the 1st of March next, carry into the continental loan office of this 
state, any of the said bills of credit, and will be entitled to receive 
for every forty dollars so brought in, one dollar of the new bills 
(emitted agreeably to the resolve of congress, of the 18th of March, and 
the act for sinking the quota required by congress of this state, of the 
bills of credit emitted by congress,) and in the same proportion for any 
greater quantity, and any portion after the said first day of March, and 
before the first day of April next, and no longer, (alter which time they 
will be irredeemable by this state,) may bring into the said loan office, 
any of the said bills of credit, and be entitled to exchange them at the 
rate aforesaid. The commissioner is to receive no more of said continental 
bills of credit into his office, than, with the quantity exchanged by 
virtue of the said act, will amount unto twenty millions five hundred and 
forty dollars."

This depreciation of the paper money of America, daring the strife for her 
liberties, was one of the ills which the people had to endure, to secure 
the greater

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good of independence. That there was murmuring at this legislative act 
cannot be concealed, but what was to be done? Either provide for another 
circulation which would have a less nominal value, but one of actual 
equality, with that of which it took the place, or yield to the power of 
England. Patriotism knew not how to make a compromise for freedom, and 
decided that the new emission should have the value sought to be given it 
by those who created it. "At a meeting of the merchants and others, 
inhabitants of Baltimore town, held at the Court house, on the 7th of 
August, 1781, to take into consideration the propriety of receiving the 
bills of credit emitted by an act of the last session of assembly, at par 
with gold and silver, James Calhoun, Esq., in the chair. It was resolved 
unanimously, that this town, deeply impressed with the necessity of 
supporting the credit of the last paper emission, as well for carrying on 
the operations of the present campaign with decision and vigor, as for the 
purposes of commerce and other necessary intercourse among the citizens of 
this state, will, in all their future transactions and dealings, receive 
the said paper money equal to specie.

"Resolved, that the following persons, viz., James Calhoun, Daniel Bowley, 
David McMechen, Mark Alexander, Richard Ridgely, John Dorsey, Joseph 
Donaldson, and John McClellan of this town; and Isaac Griest, David 
Stoddert, and James Tibbats of Fell's point, be a committee to call a 
meeting of the town, whenever they shall think an alteration of these 
resolves shall be necessary, or that others will be expedient to be 
pursued. And the said committee, or any

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five of them, (who are to meet on Saturday in each week) be empowered to 
inquire into, and hold up to public view, the conduct of all those who, 
regardless of our public exigencies, shall in any manner contravene these 
resolves, either by withholding their commodities from sale, or exacting a 
higher price in paper than in specie. And that the said committee be 
empowered to inquire into the prices of all kinds of merchandize and 
country produce.

"Resolved, that the said committee be desired to have printed 150 hand 
bills, of the proceedings of this meeting, and transmit the same to the 
several counties of this state, that the measures adopted by this town, 
may become as public as possible.

By order,
JAMES CALHOUN, Chairman.

In July, 1780, the merchants of Baltimore presented a memorial to the 
governor and council of Maryland, representing, "that the successes of 
small armed vessels and boats, have invited a very formidable enemy into 
our bay, and that not less than twenty of their most valuable vessels, 
outward bound, were then blockaded up in Patuxent river, and have been for 
some time, and that every day they receive account of their vessels being 
taken or destroyed. The governor presented, in a very strong memorial to 
congress, these serious grievances, under which the people of Baltimore 
were then laboring. The governor asked for a frigate, to be stationed in 
the waters of the Chesapeake; but I believe it was not in the power of 
congress to comply with the request at that time, for I can find no 
account of any

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frigate being stationed as was required. It appears to me, that no body of 
men ever watched over the interests of a community of which they were 
members, with a more sleepless, or intense anxiety, than did the merchants 
of Baltimore during the revolutionary struggle. They were among the first 
to suggest the measures which were necessary to be adopted to meet the 
crisis; they were never backward with their means, in giving efficacy to 
these measures; and the march of armies, the equipment of vessels of war, 
were accelerated by their unceasing exertions. Indeed, such was the 
reputation they had acquired for their patriotism abroad, that when it was 
determined, that a detachment of troops from (General Washington's army 
should be sent to the south, under the command of the Marquis De la 
Fayette, congress confided in the merchants of Baltimore, supplying them 
with such flour as they might want, in case of need, passing through 
Baltimore, which was on their way. Mr. Pickering, at that time quarter 
master general, and Mr. Charles Stewart, commissary general, in a letter 
addressed to Mr. Samuel Purviance, advising of this intended movement of 
the army, under the command of the Marquis, says: "We shall make no 
further apology at present, for giving you this trouble, as we are assured 
of your readiness to do essential service to your country on every 
occasion." The army of the Marquis came to Baltimore, on its way to 
Virginia, and received not only the flour which the above letter looked to 
have supplied here, but a considerable sum of money was raised by 
subscription, and paid over to him for the purpose of purchasing materials 
for the clothing of his army. It is due to the memory of the

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ladies of that day, in our town, to record the fact, that that clothing 
was principally made up by their fair hands. When the Marquis reached 
Baltimore, his destitution was not confined to the want of flour, but for 
nearly all the equipments, without which no army can ever be efficacious. 
There was but little money at that time in the state treasury, and the 
supply which was furnished by the patriotic gentlemen of Baltimore, is 
thus acknowledged in a letter from Thomas Sim Lee, Esq., governor of 
Maryland, addressed to Robert Purviance, Matthew Ridley and William 
Patterson, Esqrs.: "We very much applaud the zeal and activity of the 
gentlemen of Baltimore, and think their readiness to assist the executive, 
at a time when they were destitute of the means of providing those things, 
which were immediately necessary for the detachment, under the command of 
the Marquis De la Fayette, justly entitle them to the thanks of the 
public." Capt. Nicholson, whose various services in behalf of Baltimore, 
we have frequently noticed in this narrative, had been appointed to the 
command of' the Trumbull frigate, and sailed from Philadelphia about the 
beginning of August, with a fleet which he was convoying. He was met 
shortly after leaving the capes of Delaware by the Iris frigate, in 
company with two other vessels of war, and captured. In his letter, giving 
an account of this capture, he says: "the Trumbull carried away her 
foretopmast, and his escorts abandoned him after this misfortune. A 
squally, rainy night came on. The enemy's squadron overhauled him; he 
engaged with the Iris, (notwithstanding the refusal of many of his
crew to fight) until the remainder of the enemy's squadron came up, when 
he struck to the Iris."(1)

The movements of Earl Cornwallis, in August, gave reason to apprehend that 
he meant to make an invasion of Maryland, and possess himself of 
Baltimore. In consequence of this apprehension, there assembled in the 
town a force of about 2800 men. These came from this and adjacent 
counties, within two days after the alarm. Advice was soon after received, 
that the destination of Cornwallis was to Virginia; in consequence of 
which, these troops were dismissed. This was the last serious alarm which 
excited the people of Baltimore during the war. The events which occurred 
soon after in Virginia, gave a hope, that the end for which they struggled 
was near at hand.

In the month of September, 1781, General Washington arrived in Baltimore, 
on his way to Virginia, to assume the command of the combined armies of 
France and America, which were assembling for the purpose of putting a 
stop to the farther progress of Cornwallis. The Count De Rochambeau, the 
commander of the French army and his suite, arrived the day after General 
Washington; and also, the Marquis de Chastelleux, a brigadier general in 
the French service. These distinguished officers all left Baltimore in a 
day or two, to join their respective armies. An address was presented to 
General Washington, in behalf of the citizens of Baltimore, signed by 
William Smith, Samuel Purviance, John Moale, John Dorsey, and James 
Calhoun,

(1. It was some consolation to Capt. Nicholson to know, that a short time 
after his capture, the Iris was captured by Count De Grasse's squadron.)

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in which was this beautiful sentiment: "Our prayers are for your 
excellency's preservation, that you may continue approved by heaven, and 
dreaded by tyrants; and on the restoration of public tranquillity, that 
you may, in peaceful retirement, enjoy that satisfaction of mind, which 
the sense of great and noble deeds always inspires; and may posterity, in 
the full possession and exercise of that freedom which your sword has 
assisted to establish, venerate and do ample justice to your virtues and 
character, to the latest ages." General Washington's reply was 
characterized by his usual modesty, and in conclusion, he observed: "I 
thank you most cordially, for your prayers and good wishes For my 
prosperity. May the author of all blessings aid our united exertions in 
the cause of liberty and universal peace. And may the particular blessings 
of heaven rest on you, and the worthy citizens of this flourishing town of 
Baltimore."

Intelligence of the surrender of Cornwallis, to the combined armies, was 
received at Baltimore, on the 22d of October, four days after it occurred. 
The following notice of this glorious event was taken in the Maryland 
Journal, of the 23d. "Yesterday, in consequence of intelligence, 
(communicated to the town by authority,) of the surrender of Earl 
Cornwallis, with the British army, &c. &c. &c., at York and Gloucester, to 
the renowned General Washington, commander in chief of the allied army, 
the inhabitants of this town exerted themselves, with the greatest 
unanimity, to celebrate this most signal victory. During the day, there 
were many public demonstrations of joy, (in which the gentlemen, in the 
military line particularly,

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distinguished themselves,) and in the evening, every part of the town was 
illuminated in the highest taste and elegance."

Soon after the surrender of Cornwallis, the Marquis De la Fayette came to 
Baltimore, and was received in the warmest manner by the citizens. He was 
addressed by them. In referring to the part he took in the campaign of 
Virginia, they say: "In particular, we cannot sufficiently acknowledge our 
sense of your late campaign in Virginia, where, with a few regulars and 
militia, you opposed the British commander, from whose large army and 
military talents, this state had such serious cause of apprehension." In 
reply to this part of their address, the Marquis observed: "My campaign 
began with a personal obligation to the inhabitants of Baltimore; at the 
end of it, I find myself bound to them by a new tie of everlasting 
gratitude." No event of the war was considered so momentous as this 
surrender of Cornwallis. The capture of Burgoyne was considered as an 
earnest of what was to be done by American soldiers, if the war were to 
continue. The disappointments of Howe were regarded as advantageous, 
because they threw a doubt over the mind of the British government, as to 
the successful issue of their exertions. But it was reserved for the 
capture of Cornwallis, to produce the conviction that Great Britain would 
now be compelled to declare the "rebel colonies," "free, sovereign, and 
independent states."

When the intelligence of this surrender reached England, parliament 
determined that they would support the war no longer. Mr. Fox, who had at 
all times

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been friendly to American rights, declared what he now wanted, was a 
substantial connexion with America. Mr. Rigby said, "it was as idle to 
talk of the sovereignty of Britain over America, as it was to add the 
title of king of France to that of his sovereign's other titles. He held 
other doctrines, he said, at another time, and his principles were still 
the same, but time and accident had altered the system of things." He 
called upon Mr. Fox, to know what he meant by his words, 'substantial 
connexion with America.' Mr. Fox answered, "by these words he meant, no 
act of sovereignty to be exercised by Great Britain over America, but such 
a substantial connexion as should be derived from mutual interest, like 
that subsisting between Portugal and Britain."

On the 13th of June, 1782, a proclamation from Thomas Sim Lee, Esq., 
governor of Maryland, was issued, announcing the birth of a Dauphin of 
France, and appointing the 25th of the same month, as the day for the 
celebration of the auspicious event. "And I cannot doubt," says the 
governor, "that the citizens of this state will unite in the joy which an 
occasion so nearly affecting the happiness of our ally, will not fail to 
inspire, while they experience a new source of satisfaction on the birth 
of a prince, from whom we have every reason to expect a continuance of the 
blessings of our alliance. The same lively attention to the injured and 
oppressed, and all those great and good qualities, which have excited our 
admiration and gratitude, and which so eminently distinguished his 
illustrious father." The day selected by the proclamation, was celebrated 
in Baltimore. There was an elegant dinner provided at a place called the 
Independent Spring, at which were present, the

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Chevalier D'Anmour, the French consul, and a number of strangers and 
French gentlemen. After dinner, many toasts were drank, and the 
entertainment was closed with that harmony and good humor, which, in a 
peculiar manner, distinguished the day.

The first toast drank, was, "the Dauphin of France." What a distressing 
thought arises at the recollection of this name and this association! This 
young prince, born to the most splendid inheritance which man can covet; 
apparently destined to fill a throne, which had resisted the assaults of 
eight hundred years; the short space of eleven years saw this mighty 
fabric overturned by those who ought to have been its supporters; his 
father perish on a scaffold, and himself placed in one of the humblest 
occupations for a maintenance: but a short time after this awful change, 
his very being was covered with a pall of darkness that still rests over 
it.

The French forces, under Count Rochambeau, arrived in Baltimore, about the 
22d of July, on their return from the capture of Cornwallis. They 
consisted of upwards of five thousand men. They departed from Baltimore 
for the north, about the 23d of August. There were two addresses presented 
by the merchants of Baltimore to Count Rochambeau; the one, on his return 
from Virginia; the other, on his departure with his troops. The address 
presented on his return, offers the "most sincere thanks, in this public 
manner, for the distinguished aid and protection, which you have from time 
to time, so willingly afforded to the commercial interests of this state, 
and to inform your excellency, that we are happy in the opportunity of 
paying you this tribute, so justly due to distinguished merit."

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The reply of Count Rochambeau, to this part of the address is thus 
expressed: "The intention of the king my master, towards his faithful 
allies, being, that his auxiliary troops should not only protect the 
liberties of the United States, but watch over their commercial interests, 
as often and as much as it would be in their power. I have felt a peculiar 
pleasure to have been able to render some service to your state. The 
noblest reward for me is, without doubt, the approbation of such a 
respectable body of citizens. I embrace with pleasure, gentlemen, this 
occasion to render you my sincere thanks for the readiness with which you 
have taken in your houses our staff officers and others, whose duty and 
station render the convenience of a house absolutely necessary to them." 
Count Rochambeau embarked at Annapolis for France, on the 8th of January, 
1783. The news of peace reached Baltimore, on the 25th of March, 1783.

I have thus detailed the principal events connected with the revolutionary 
war, which occurred in Baltimore town, and which I have supposed would 
excite any particular interest at the present day. They certainly were 
events, which at the time they occurred, were considered as having an 
important bearing on the great question then at issue, and of which, those 
who were immediately instrumental in their occurrence, cherished their 
recollection as among the most valuable incidents of the revolution. The 
contest, as waged by our infant town, presents as striking an instance of 
patriotism, as the history of our country shews. Our people were among the 
first to resent the outrages of England as exhibited in the various 
taxations which

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she had levied on the colonies. They were also among the first to stir up 
the colonies in the south, to a just indignation of these wrongs; and when 
the war actually took place, although Maryland was nearly exempt from any 
visitations of the enemy, yet that did not prevent Baltimore from 
furnishing her quota of officers and troops, who, under the proud name of 
the "old Maryland line," did honor to the cause they aided, and to the 
people from whom they were sent. It is a grateful duty now to take notice 
of the names of some of these gentlemen, and to offer to those of the 
present day, who are called upon to sustain their country's honor, such an 
example, which, if imitated, will secure to themselves unfading glory.

General Otho Holland Williams, was a native of Prince George's county. As 
early as 1775, he had the command of a company, which marched to Boston. 
At the attack on Fort Washington, he was wounded, and fell into the hands 
of the enemy. He was at this time a major. From the treatment he received 
from the enemy, his health became so seriously affected, that, during his 
life, he never recovered it. He was promoted to the command of the sixth 
regiment of the Maryland line, during his captivity, and on being released 
from it, he marched with his regiment to the south, and in all the battles 
fought by that celebrated line, he distinguished himself. He acted as 
deputy adjutant general of the southern army, under General Gates, and was 
in the disastrous battle of Camden. A remnant of the defeated army was 
formed into two battalions, constituting a regiment, and the command of it 
was given to Col. Williams and Lieut. Col.

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Howard. When General Green joined the army, he appointed Col. Williams 
adjutant general. In the battle at the Eutaw Springs, he gained the 
highest honors. Near the close of the war, as a reward for his services, 
he was promoted by congress to the rank of brigadier general. About a year 
before the close of the war, he retired from the military service, and was 
appointed by the state, naval officer for the port of Baltimore, in the 
room of Mr. Sellers, who had died at this time. He held this office until 
the organization of the federal government, in 1789, when he was appointed 
collector of this port by General Washington. He died in July, 1794.

General Mordecai Gist, was born in Baltimore county, and when the war 
first broke out, he was appointed a major in a ferment of regular troops. 
He remained with his regiment, which was stationed at Baltimore, for some 
time after its formation. It was afterwards marched to the north, and 
served in the campaigns of the northern army. Major Gist was considered so 
meritorious an officer, that he was soon promoted to the rank of a 
colonel; and when the Maryland line was sent to the south, he also went as 
brigadier general. He continued in the service, an active and meritorious 
officer, until the peace. After the peace, he married in South Carolina, 
and died there in 1791.

Col. John E. Howard, was a native of Baltimore county. He entered the army 
as a captain, and in the battle of the White Plains, he became 
distinguished. When a number of battalions were required to be raised by a 
resolve of congress, Capt. Howard was appointed a major in one of the 
number

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allotted to Maryland. He was with the army at Rocky Hill, near Princeton, 
in April, 1777, and remained with it until June, when he returned home for 
awhile in consequence of the death of his father. He rejoined the army in 
September following, and was in the battle of Germantown. In June, 1779, 
Major Howard received the commission of lieutenant colonel of the 5th 
Maryland regiment. He was in the disastrous battle of Camden, but that 
portion of duty assigned w Col. Howard in the battle, was sustained with 
great gallantry. In December, subsequent to the battle, General Green 
arrived, and took command of the southern army. In January, 1781, was 
fought the battle of the Cowpens. The glories of that day, belong 
principally to Col. Howard. At Eutaw, he had the command of the second 
regiment. Col. Howard, on this occasion, again distinguished himself, and 
at this time he received a severe wound in the left shoulder. General 
Green observed of him, in one of his letters, "Col. Howard was as good an 
officer as the world afforded, and deserved a statue of gold, no less than 
the Roman and Grecian heroes." In Nov. 1788, Col. Howard was chosen 
governor of Maryland, and continued in the executive chair for three 
years. In the year 1796, he was elected a senator of the United States, in 
which situation he continued until the year 1803. He died in 1827.

General Samuel Smith was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, but came to 
Baltimore in childhood. At the breaking out of the war, he was appointed a 
captain in one of the regular companies stationed in Baltimore, but rose 
soon after to the rank of colonel. In this character he joined the army,

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at that time, watching the movements of Sir William Howe, near 
Philadelphia. He was stationed, with a part of his regiment, at Mud Fort, 
on the Delaware, when the British fleet were ascending that river. His 
gallant defence of that fort, won him the reputation of a skilful and 
gallant officer, and as a testimonial of his bravery, congress presented 
him with a sword. He retired from the army some time after this battle, 
but did not withdraw from the service of his country. In Baltimore, he 
took command of a regiment of militia, and continued doing duty in this 
command during the whole of the war. General Smith, some years after the 
war, was elected to the legislature of the state, where he remained until 
he was elected to congress, in the year 1792. In congress, he continued 
until the year 1833, having served forty years in the national councils, 
with an intermission of only six weeks, during that long period. General 
Smith, in the year 1793, was made a brigadier general, and in that 
capacity commanded a brigade from Maryland, in the expedition of 1794, to 
suppress what was called the whiskey insurrection, in the western parts of 
Pennsylvania. As major general of the third division of Maryland militia, 
he was entrusted with the defence of Baltimore, during the war of 1812. 
The repulse of the British army, in its attack upon Baltimore, was the 
result of his judicious management of the campaign. At the age of eighty-
three years, he was called upon by his fellow citizens to exercise the 
arduous duties of mayor of the city of Baltimore. Those duties he 
performed for three years, and then retired. He died a few months 
thereafter, and the city of Baltimore did honor to herself, by giving to 
his remains a public burial.

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It may not be out of place to notice the services of some gentlemen in 
civil employments, which were not the less valuable from the absence of 
military glare. They served their country faithfully, and their memories 
are worthy of a place in the recollections of a posterity, who are in the 
uninterrupted enjoyment of rights they contributed to transmit to them. 
Mr. David Stewart was appointed by congress to discharge the duties of 
marshall, for the state of Maryland. These dudes were performed with a 
zeal that seems to have been peculiar to the patriots of those days. This 
occupation was no sinecure, as indeed were none of the offices created by 
congress. When the war was over, Mr. Stewart resumed his commercial 
business, and united himself in it with Mr. David Plunket. He continued in 
that connexion, until the unfortunate loss of Mr. Plunket, at sea, in the 
year 1793. Mr. Stewart died in 1817.

Mr. Plunket was an active partizan officer, and had been in several 
battles. He was by birth an Irish gentlemen, and the elder brother of the 
present Lord Plunket, late the chancellor of Ireland. He was the person 
employed by the committee of 1776, to wait on congress, to receive from 
them the instruction that might be given respecting the seizure of the 
person of Governor Eden.

Mr. Robert Purviance was, with his brother Mr. Samuel Purviance, appointed 
by congress, as an agent in the management of such concerns as were 
entrusted them by their legislation. These were of a most various and 
multiplied character, and demanded the whole time and labor of those who 
had charge of them.

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On the adoption of the constitution of the United States, when the new 
government went into operation, General Washington appointed Mr. Purviance 
the naval officer of the port of Baltimore, and on the death of General 
Williams, who had been at the same time appointed the collector, he made 
him the collector, which office he held until his death, in October, 1806. 
I do not violate the sanctity of private correspondence, when I say, that 
these offices, thus bestowed, were a testimonial of approbation for 
revolutionary services.

Mr. David Poe acted as a quarter master throughout the whole of the war. 
He was a Faithful officer, and was held in great estimation by all who had 
business to transact with him. Such was his devotion to his country, that 
it was almost proverbial; and so unabated was it, long after the peace was 
proclaimed, that by the public sentiment, he became a breveted general, 
and in his latter days, was better known as General Poe, than by any other 
name.