The Maryland 400: Maryland's Soldiers at the Battle of Brooklyn in 1776

In August 1776, the Continental Army suffered a terrible defeat at the Battle of Brooklyn, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War. The battle nearly saw the complete destruction of the American army, but a desperate stand by a contingent of Maryland soldiers helped to stave off the British and allow the Americans to fight another day. 

Learn more about these soldiers, now called the Maryland 400, and hear first-hand accounts of their actions at the battle. This talk will also discuss the lives of several soldiers from the unit, exploring them and their families during and after the Revolutionary War. This talk is drawn from research which is the basis for a forthcoming book about the Maryland 400 and the experiences of Maryland's soldiers during the war.

Owen Lourie is a historian at the Maryland State Archives specializing in Maryland government and military history during the colonial era and early republic. He holds an M.A. in history from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a B.A. from Kenyon College in American Studies. Owen is the director of Finding the Maryland 400, a research project studying the First Maryland Regiment.  He is the author of "Maryland’s Jews, Military Service, and the American Revolutionary Era: The Case of Elias Pollock," an article which appeared in The Journal of Southern Jewish History, and is currently at work on a social history of the Maryland Line, chronicling the soldiers of the Maryland 400 during the Revolutionary War.

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