The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1892-04-02

as | can get; though have called and called
again and again for them, | believe there
are but one of them really true, that is
Major Brinsmade's, who seems to be the
| honestest man.
'sThe fact is, they can't make their weekly
and provision returns agree; for this reason
they have made a number of breyet officers.
| They doubt whether these officers will be
allowed extra rations; to avoid that, they
return so many more men as to cover the
extra rations of those officers. You'll see
by adverting to the returns that some COM
panies have more officers than priyates, at
best; but not content with that, and IN
stead of sending home the officers who have
very few men, almost none, and turning
over those few men into other companies,
they add brevet officers, not only to pick
the pockets of the public here, but, also,
those brevet officers are to be dismissed
from the militia rolls, at home, and in few
times more being called forth there will be
no militia left in the State.
MARKED CONTRAST.
While Washington was contending in the
Revolution against the enemy in the field
and against New England factions III the
councils of the new nation, Maryland was
sending him the flower of her sons to
strengthen his armies and her granaries and
looms fed and clothed them No State
furnished so many valiant troops to the
Continental army in response to the levies
made by Congress, and no State contributed
an equal amount of money and supplies as
Maryland.
OF the services in the field We need only
quote from original documents to show how
much the Marylanders were esteemed by
their commanding officers. General La
fayette said the soldiers from Maryland
owere game chickens who could stand cut
ting" Col Tench Tilghman, in letter to
his father, under date of September, 1776,
said "No regular troops ever made a
more gallant resistance than Smallwoods
Maryland. regiment. If the others had
behaved as well, if General Howe had OBJ
tanned victory at all, it would have been
dearly bought.
The behavior of the Southern troops in
the late action Battle of Long Island) has
shamed the Northern people; they confess
themselves unequal to them, In another
letter, dated September II, 1776, he said !:
II don't know whether the New England
troops will stand there Harlem Heights,
but | am sure they will not upon open
ground l had a specimen of that yester-
day. Her two brigades ran away from a
small advanced party of the regulars,
though the General Washington did all
in his power to convince them they were
in no danger He laid his cane over many
of the officers, who showed their men the
example of running" In referring to the
disgraceful conduct of the two New Eng
land brigades, Washington said Il used
every means in my power to rally and get
them into some order, but my attempts
were fruitless and Intellectual; and on the
appearance of a small party Of the enemy,
not more than sixty or seventy, their dis
order increased and they ran away in the
greatest confusion without firing a single
shot"
wAsHINGToN's DISGUST. .
At this time Washington had thorough
disgust for the New England troops.
/ Upon one occasion finging his hat upon
the ground he cried out: care these the
men with whom I am to defend America ?"
At that moment, General Greene says, he
sought death rather then life, and bare
headed and alone he rushed to meet his
fate at the hands of the advancing enemy;
but his bride was seized by an aide-de-camp
and his horse led away. In this emergency
he sent for his favorite Maryland troops
which covered the retreat of the army
TWO BRIdADEs RUN FROM SIXTY MEN.
General Smallwood in letter to the
MARYLAND Convention, dated October II,
1875, SAYS: II have often read and heard
of instances of cowardice, but hitherto have
had but faint idea of it till now. never
could have thought human nature subject
to such baseness. could wish the tran
sactions of this day blotted out of the annals
of America. Nothing appeared but flight,
disgrace and confusion. Let it suffice to
say that sixty light infantry, upon the first
fire, put to flight two brigades Of the Con-
necticut troops, wretches who, however
strange it may appear, from the brigadier
general down to the private sentinel, were
eaned and whipped by the Generals Wash
ington, Putnam and Miffiin; but even this
indignity had no weight; they could not be
brought to stand one shot"
At the Harlem Plains, Washington
again called on his favorite Marylanders to
dislodge the enemy In letter to Con-
gress, dated September 18, 1776, Wash
ington said that Richardson's and Griffith s
Maryland regiments charged the enemy
with great intrepidity, and drove them
from the wood into the plains"
Another letter from headquarters says :
"Our brave Southern soldiers dislodged
them from their posts.
Colonel Tilghman, under date Of Sep
tember 10Th, 1776, referring to this action
said "Colonel GriAith's and Colonel
Richardson's Maryland regiments charged
with as much bravery as can conceive.
The prisoners we took told us they
expected our men would have run away as
the New Englanders did the day before,
but they were never more surprised than
| ~, s9c .SuvanUIug atu;IuA JiicuI. Tic
Virginia and Maryland troops bear the
palm. They are well officered, and behave
with as much regularity as possible, while
the Eastern people are plundering every
thing that comes in their way.
CONTEMPT FELT FOR NEW ENGLANDERs
Adjutant General Reed, speaking of
these troops, said: "The Southern troops,
comprising the regiments south of the Del
aware, looked with very unkind feelings on
those of New England" Another con-
temporary writer says the Southern troops
did not hesitate ''to turn up their noses"
at their Yankee fellow soldiers; and another
contemporary writer tells us that they held
New England men sin so contemplate a
light" that they could scarcely conceive any
''disrespect of them" to be 'reprehensible :"
As early as December, 177G, Gen. An
thony Wayne, in a letter to General Gates,
j