The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1931-10-22
Colonel Tench Tilghman, Soldier of Maryland

broke over the water and for hours
the little ship wallowed helplessly in
the waves, with all hands more ac-
tive in keeping her afoat than to her
course. Blown off her course during
the night she grounded on the shoals
off Tangier Sound, whence she was
fioated only after more hours of de-
lay. When Tilghman finally reached
Annapolis he had lost a full day in
elapsed time from the moment of
leaving Yorktown harbor.
In the Maryland capital Tilghman
learned that a courier from Comte
de Grasse, commander of the French
fleet allied with the Continental Army
in the siege of Yorktown, had pre-
coded him by day, bearing word that
the siege would surely succeed. Con-
fident that such incomplete dispatches
would only add to the confusion and
unrest in Philadelphia, Washington's
messenger resumed his trip without
pausing, reembarking for Rock Hall,
on Kent Island, point more than
eighty miles from the Quaker City.
Annapolis harbor had barely been
cleared before the elements again
played Tilghman false, and the gales
which had driven him astray the pre-
vious day gave place to a death-like
calm. For a full day the Tilghman
boat idled on the CLASSY surface of the
Chesapeake with limp sails, drifting
without Roadway until faint land
breeze waited it onward to it's des-
tination.
Tilghman's irritation at the delay
well may be imagined, and on disem-
barking he lost no time in making
preparations for continuing his jour-
ney. The islanders, all of whom were
known to Tilghman, greeted the news
joyfully, for the meager information
they had gained from De Grasses
courier (who had passed over the
same route the day before) had left
them only hopeful. Tilghman requi-
sitioned a mount and carried on. Over
the old post road through Yorktown
>(later Edesville) he spurred into
Chestertown, shouting his message to
I+haco hn YoccaI tho pnxyaV1
Chestertown, he swerved toward
Georgetown and Fredericktown, ford
ed the Sassafras river and bore north
ward up the peninsula. Through the
entire night Of October % he drove
forward, stopping only to exchange
horses, and in the dark early morning
hours of the 23rd he cantered into
the outskirts of Philadelphia.
Once the city proper was attained,
Tilghman guided his firing mount
through it's hushed streets until he
came to a halt before the home of
Thomas Mexican, president of the
Continental Congress.
| ***
Mexican, it appears, was a difficult
man to arouse despite the troubled
times, and Tilghman's hammering
upon his door with the hilt of his
sword served only to stir the ire of
the night watch, who, ironically
enough, mistook the travel-stained
harbinger of good tidings for drum
ken roysterer. The misunderstood
ing was dispelled by the belated ap-
pearance of Mexican, who lost no time
in acquainting himself with the news
of the victory. The rest Of the night
or rather morning-Philadelphia
celebrated, and as the Waterman cried
each hour they supplemented their
customary "All's well" with a new
and ringing phrase: "Cornwallis is
taken"
Tilghman's mission, while executed
successfully, was at grave cost to
himself, as the exposure and fatigue
resulting from the journey forced him
to lie ill in Philadelphia for several
days, later recuperating still further
at Bay Side, the Talbot county home
of his uncle, Matthew Tilghman.
While at Bay Side, Tilghman cult
waited romance with his cousin, Anna
Maria Tilghman, which had budded
when he had been on one of his in=
frequent furloughs three years pre-
viously.
During the next two years the colo
mel spent great part of the time
with his relatives on the Eastern
Shore. On June 9, 1888, he married
his cousin, but because of the recent
death of Charles Carroll, the barris-
ter, and Tilghman's brother-in-law,
the ceremony was very quiet. So quiet,
indeed, that Tilghman some time later
received a letter from General Wash
ington as follows: