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Washington Blues

The Washington Blues were a company of Maryland Volunteers which saw action during the Battle of Bladensburg and the Battle of North Point, during the War of 1812.

History

When war broke out between the United States and Great Britain, George H. Steuart (then Captain Steuart) raised a company of Maryland volunteers, known as the Washington Blues,[2] part of the 5th Maryland Regiment[3] commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Sterett.[4] They saw action at the Battle of Bladensberg (August 24, 1814),[5] where the Americans, including the 5th Regiment, were routed by the British. Although the 5th had "evinced a disposition to make a gallant resistance", it was flanked by the redcoats and forced to retreat in some disorder.[6] After the battle, British forces entered Washington, D.C. and burned several government buildings.

Steuart's company fought better at the Battle of North Point (September 12, 1814),[7] where the militia were able to hold the line for several hours before making a fighting retreat, and where Steuart was wounded.[8] Some of the militia regiments, such as the 51st, and some members of 39th, broke and ran under fire, but the 5th and 27th held their ground and were able to retreat in reasonably good order having inflicted significant casualties on the advancing enemy.[9] Corporal John McHenry of the 5th Regiment wrote an account of the battle:

Our Regiment, the 5th, carried off the praise from the other regiments engaged, so did the company to which I have the honor to belong cover itself with glory. When compared to the [other] Regiments we were the last that left the ground...had our Regiment not retreated at the time it did we should have been cut off in two minutes.[9]

Notable members

On April 19, 1861, during the start of the American Civil War, Baltimore was disrupted by riots, during which Southern sympathizers attacked Union troops passing through the city by rail. Steuart himself was strongly sympathetic to the Confederacy and, perhaps knowing this, Governor Hicks did not call out the militia to suppress the riots.[14] On May 13, 1861 Union troops occupied the state, restoring order and preventing a vote in favor of Southern secession. Steuart moved south for the duration of the Civil War, and much of the general's property was confiscated by the Federal Government as a consequence.[15] However, many members of the newly formed Maryland Line in the Confederate army would be drawn from Steuart's militia.[16]

References

Notes

  1. ^ Laura Rich. Maryland History In Prints 1743–1900. p. 44.
  2. ^ Register of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, National Commandery (1900) Retrieved Jan 14 2010
  3. ^ Register of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, p.101, National Commandery (1900) Retrieved Jan 14 2010
  4. ^ Hickman, Nathaniel, p.100, The citizen soldiers at North Point and Fort McHenry, September 12 & 13 1814, published by James Young,(1889) Retrieved Jan 14 2010
  5. ^ The British Invasion of Maryland, 1812-1815 by William Matthew Marine Retrieved Jan 14 2010
  6. ^ History of the Late War between the United States and Great Britain By Henry Marie Brackenridge, p.249, Philadelphia (1836). Retrieved Jan 15 2010
  7. ^ The Huntington Library Quarterly, Volume 12 (1949). Retrieved Jan 13 2010
  8. ^ American Quarterly Review, Issues 35-36, by Robert Walsh, p.495 (1835) Retrieved Jan 15 2010
  9. ^ a b George, p.143
  10. ^ Short page on Ruckle at rootsweb.ancestry.com Retrieved October 2010
  11. ^ Register of the Military Order of Foreign Wars of the United States, National Commandery (1900) Retrieved Jan 14 2010
  12. ^ page on Thomas Ruckle at marylandartsource.org Retrieved October 2010
  13. ^ Sullivan David M., The United States Marine Corps in the Civil War: The First Year, p.286, White Mane Publishing (1997). Retrieved Jan 13 2010
  14. ^ Maryland, A Middle Temperament: 1634-1980 by Robert J. Brugger, Johns Hopkins University Press (1996) Retrieved Jan 15 2010
  15. ^ Nelker, p.120
  16. ^ Goldsborough, p.9

External links