As Brian announced in his AAR of our Instructor Meeting and Fun Shoot today, Maryland has rolled out it's new state patch to replace the Maryland Front Sight Patch. We will be sharing this with instructors (including welcome border raiders) working Maryland shoots as well as with those who clean their Red Coat target.
Here is the design:
(https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1jpxdztIagkHv00LV99K_2NHZ2xzSBwQR)
And the patches turned out sharp and were not expensive:
(https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1bwnQBkkmBRGVUjFuqbk1h-w2QNsBjQwc)
Who were the Immortal 400? That is the question we want participants in Maryland and other states to ask!
Here is a brief history sourced from here (https://blog.theveteranssite.greatergood.com/immortal-400/), here (https://www.wearethemighty.com/articles/marylands-immortal-400-saved-the-entire-american-revolution/), and here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maryland_400). There is an excellent book available on the subject: Washington's Immortals: The Untold Story of an Elite Regiment Who Changed the Course of the Revolution by Patrick K. O'Donnell (https://smile.amazon.com/Washingtons-Immortals-Regiment-Changed-Revolution-ebook/dp/B0163BZ2E8/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8BWISUXMFDX&dchild=1&keywords=washington%27s+immortals+by+patrick+k.+o+donnell&qid=1624155134&sprefix=washington%27s+immo%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-1)
On August 22, 1776, the first major battle of the Revolutionary War was fought on Long Island. General William Howe landed a force of 20,000 Redcoats on Long Island and began a fierce attack on General George Washington's Continental Army. The Continentals were severely outnumbered and were on the verge of being defeated. While Howe had committed large numbers of his forces into head-on battle with Washington's troops, he was also moving some of his forces to take up positions behind Washington's Continental Army in order to put them into a pincer.
It was not looking good for the Continentals. They needed to retreat from the field to be able to regroup and to fight another day. Washington's forces were being badly mauled and were slowly being surrounded.
There was only one small gap in Howe's forces that could be utilized for a Continental retreat. This is where the Maryland Regiment under the leadership of Col. William Smallwood, were ordered to provide a rear guard action to allow Washington's army to retreat.
Some 2,000 of Howe's Redcoats took over and occupied a position called, "The Old Stone House" It was a fortified position and a threat to the retreating Continental Army. The 400 men from the Maryland Regiment placed themselves between the British troops and Washington's retreating forces. They not only harassed the British forces, but conducted several bayonet charges against The Old Stone House. They so occupied the British forces there that Washington's Continentals were able to make and orderly and successful retreat.
At the end of the day only nine of those Marylanders were able to rejoin the retreating and now safe Continental Army. Washington, watching from a redoubt on nearby Cobble Hill, was to have said, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose!"
Because of those Marylanders' heroic actions that day, they became known to the rest of the Continental Army as "The Immortal 400."
Washington so respected the Maryland Regiment that he came to refer to them as his "Old Line." The State of Maryland would gain one of its nicknames because of its fighting units as well. It would became known as "The Old Line State."
The Maryland Regiment would be reformed and would go on to participate in many other defining battles of the Revolutionary War including: Trenton, Princeton, Camden, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, and ultimately Yorktown.
Wow! You guys hit that one out of the park. Nice Job! O0
Thanks! Hope we can get you down for an event.
Salute! Great heritage for Maryland, beautiful job on the patch
Well, I just so happened to be planning a road trip up there soon. thanks!