Minuteman Minute | The Maryland Line

In 1776, the Maryland Line saved the Continental Army from defeat. Today, their lineage is carried by the Maryland Army National Guard’s 175th Infantry Regiment.

Hi, I’m Will Roulett, director of the National Guard Memorial Museum in D.C., and this is YOUR Minuteman Minute! Today, I’m at the Maryland Museum of Military History inside the 5th Regiment Armory in Baltimore. This painting by Alfred Wordsworth Thompson depicts the Maryland Battalion leaving Annapolis to join Washington’s Army in July 1776. Rising tensions with Britain prompted the Maryland Convention to authorize the formation of a battalion. Col. William Smallwood was selected to lead that battalion and departed Maryland to join the Continental Army encamped in New York. The Marylanders joined American forces spread across fortifications in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Long Island. The Army waited for the British and Hessian forces to attack but they would not have to wait long. The British attacked on the morning of August 27, 1776, nearly surrounding the Americans. Washington quickly realized the Continental Army needed to evacuate across the East River to Manhattan to live to fight another day. At this dire moment, Maryland’s battalion was ordered to launch a counterattack. Fixing their bayonets, 400 Marylanders charged at the British, which allowed the rest of Washington’s force a chance to withdraw. The “Maryland 400,” as they would become known, paid dearly for the delaying action, suffering 80% casualties before joining the rest of the army. While viewing the action, Washington remarked, "My God, what brave men must I lose today!" The legacy of the Maryland Line is carried today by the 1st Battalion, 175th Infantry Regiment of the Maryland Army National Guard, whose colors proudly bear the campaign streamer earned by the charge of the Maryland 400 at Long Island. Without their bravery, the fight for American Independence may have ended a mere month after the declaration was signed. You can learn about this – and a whole lot more – at the Maryland Museum of Military History. I’m Will Roulett, and that’s been your Minuteman Minute, brought to you by the National Guard Educational Foundation.