Mister Smith fights for Washington

Coincidence?

Lord Stirling

While writing The Patriot Spy, I researched and continued to research various people, places, and events involved in the campaigns around New York in 1776. One key event in the campaign, and in the book, was the gallant attack of the "Maryland 400." The number of Marylanders was around 250, with the remnants of Haslet's Delaware Regiment joining in to make up the difference. This was a forlorn hope attack led by New Jersey General "Lord" Stirling against a large body of redcoats commanded by General Lord Cornwallis. While Stirling claimed the title of lord (or in his case, laird, as he claimed a Scottish peerage), Cornwallis held real authority. Cornwallis had the advantage of good ground and around 2,000 of the best troops in the army, along with two guns, to face the small American force, which was now hopelessly cut off. Stirling led attacks that exemplified some of the bravest moments of the entire eight-year war. Intense musketry was exchanged, and the Americans from Maryland and Delaware made several attempts to reach the British line, but in the end, the force was eviscerated. All were killed, wounded, or captured, except for the Maryland commander, Major Mordecai Gist, and a handful that included the resolute Captain Samuel Smith.

Major Mordecai Gist

In The Patriot Spy, a young officer named Lieutenant Jeremiah Creed, a mysterious Irish immigrant, executes a successful withdrawal and escapes across Gowanus Creek. That act of gallantry is witnessed from the American defenses by General George Washington, who then decides to use the talented Creed in an intelligence war against the British. The rest you will have to read in the novel. In my research, I, of course, read about the event and the escape of a handful, including Gist. However, with literary license, I inserted the fictional Creed, commander of the Maryland Light Infantry company. What I did not know at the time was that a very real commander of the light infantry had indeed escaped with a handful of his men.

Haslet's Delaware Line on Long Island

Fact Meets Fiction

The high point of the Battle of Long Island

So who was this real-life person I inadvertently channeled in my novel? His name was Captain Samuel Smith. Oddly, although born in Pennsylvania, he also had Irish heritage, as his family hailed from County Tyrone. Smith's family moved to Baltimore when he was young, and he eventually worked in his father's successful mercantile business. Young Smith sailed to Europe, where he traveled extensively. The fictional Creed also journeyed to various parts of Europe and other locales before settling in Maryland. Smith returned to America after the battles at Lexington and Concord in 1775. By early 1776, he received an appointment as commander of the 6th company in First Maryland, Colonel Smallwood's Regiment. As noted in The Patriot Spy, Smallwood missed the action on Long Island while serving (with Colonel John Haslet) on court-martial duty in Manhattan Ironically, it was an espionage trial!

Mordecai Gist urging the Maryland 400 to glory on Long Island

As an 18th-century company commander, Smith would lead his troops in the attack and be at the rear during the withdrawal. He likely faced enemy fire on numerous occasions because, make no mistake about it, this was a battle of hellish proportions: massed volleys, withering skirmish fire, smoke everywhere, the crack of muskets, and the boom of cannon, overpowering the screams and cries of the dead and dying. The evacuation by Smith and his men was no small achievement. To accomplish it, they had to withstand enemy musket and cannon fire, evade the close pursuit of bayonet-wielding regulars, navigate rough terrain, and finally make their way across swampland and the Gowanus Creek itself. During the actual battle, Washington observed the action from a redoubt on nearby Cobble Hill (intersection of today's Court Street and Atlantic Avenue). Distressed by the destruction of the finest troops, he is reported to have said, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!"

Captain Samuel Smith leads his men on Long Island

I should note that the action there was the largest and bloodiest of the war—and the first pitched battle fought by the United States as a nation, occurring just weeks after the Declaration of Independence.

Smith's military career continued to gain momentum following the action on Long Island. He fought prominently at White Plains and Brandywine. In 1777, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and assigned the task of defending Fort Mifflin, located on an island in the Delaware River.

Mifflin was one of two key forts protecting Philadelphia from Admiral Lord Richard Howe's British fleet. The fort was primarily made of mud walls and had a garrison of only 400 men. Still, Smith repulsed a determined assault by a squadron of British ships in October. A ship of the line and a sloop-of-war both ran aground under the intense fire from Mifflin's defenders. However, the British returned in force in November, this time with frigates, floating batteries, and land-based artillery. They battered Mifflin from all sides with a horrific bombardment, often at point-blank range. The defenders fought bravely but paid a heavy price for it. They returned fire until all their guns were silenced by the more powerful British shot.

Toward the end, Smith was seriously wounded and had to be evacuated. Shortly thereafter, the remainder of the defenders also evacuated the fort. But not before they had acquitted themselves admirably against great odds. Smith received a commendation from Congress for his actions and was awarded a commemorative sword. He recuperated and went on to fight at the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. After the battle, he resigned his commission and returned to Baltimore, where he became a privateer, sending ships out to harass and capture the British merchant fleet.

Sketch of British naval assault on Fort Mifflin in 1777

A Man of Peace... and then again of War...

 Following the war, Smith resumed his mercantile activities and became one of the wealthiest men in Maryland. In 1791, he was appointed commander of the state militia to help suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania. His popularity led to a seat in the House of Representatives in 1792, where he served four terms. Smith supported Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1800 and served as Acting Secretary of the Navy until 1803. After that, he became a U.S. Senator. When tensions with Britain were rising, Smith opposed going to war. Once again, he donned his uniform in 1814 when a combined fleet attacked Baltimore.

As a major general and head of the militia once more, Smith arranged the defenses of the city against a combined sea and land attack. The results are legendary: the repulse at sea at Fort McHenry (The Star-Spangled Banner made this battle famous) and the lesser-known repulse at North Point of the British landing force under another Irishman, British General Robert Ross. The British land forces at North Point were routed—a rare feat of arms that was overshadowed by the more famous rout at New Orleans. In some ways, Samuel Smith saved the nation. Had the British taken America's most strategic port and divided the states geographically, the outcome might have proven grim.

Major General Smith  at Baltimore in 1814

Final Years

Smith returned to the Senate for several terms and eventually became the mayor of Baltimore in 1836. Along the way, he helped establish the Bank of Maryland and was one of the founders of the Washington Monument and the Battle Monument in Baltimore.

Samuel Smith as Senator

The brave captain of the Maryland 400 died in his city on April 22nd, 1839. His funeral was a tribute to one of Maryland and Baltimore's finest, as well as one of America's finest first patriots.

One of his biographers reminds us that these last rites were:

"...a tribute to the political achievements of the man who represented his State in the national legislature through the administration of seven presidents. As the procession reached Baltimore Street and turned east along the waterfront, the ships in the Patapsco lowered their colors to half-mast for the merchant whose ships had known the ports of the world from Europe to China. And as the throng of citizens watched the hearse with its military escort ascend Hampstead Hill, the guns of Fort McHenry boomed a final salute..."

Samuel Smith's life was noteworthy and well-lived by any measure. The former Captain of the Maryland 400 became one of the most popular and accomplished men of his time, although sadly, he enjoys little fame today. First Patriot Samuel Smith is buried at the Old Western Burying Ground, the intersection of Fayette and Greene Streets, Baltimore, Maryland.

Samuel Smith Burial Site