When hostilities began
with England in 1775,
the Continental
Congress authorized
the raising of six
rifle companies,
including men from
Maryland. This unit
was mostly
frontiersmen and
scouts, recruited in
what is now Washington
County and nicknamed "Cresaps
Rifles". They were
among the first to
join General
Washington, marching
from Frederick county
to Cambridge,
Massachusetts in 22
days.
The first
participation of most
local men was in one
or another of the four
militia companies
mobilized in the
Tom
Creek Hundred area
(now Emmitsburg) in
November, 1775. The
First Company was
known as "The
Gamecocks" for the
jaunty plumage they
wore in their caps.
The Third Company was
headed by Capt. Jacob
Ambrose (of Owens
Creek) with First Lt.
Peter Shaver, Ensign
John Weller, John Protsman, Laurence
Creager, Casper Young
and George Kuhn among
the officers and non-coms
heading 50 privates.
The fifer was Philip
Weller. Capt. Benjamin
Ogles' Fourth Company
consisted of other men
from the Hunting
Creek/Graceham area
like Henry Matthias,
George Need, William
Elder and Daniel
Linebaugh.
Recognizing that many
of the German-speaking
citizens wanted to
join the fight, the
Continental Congress
authorized the raising
of a German Regiment
to be composed of
eight companies of
Pennsylvania and
Maryland men led by
bilingual officers.
The Assembly in July,
1776 defined that two
companies each would
be raised from
Frederick and
Baltimore counties.
Enlistment was for
three years, but the
Regiment saw action
for nearly five years
from Trenton, White
Plains and Brandeywine
in Delaware, New York
and New Jersey to
Yorktown in the south.
During the bleak
winter of 1777 "The
German Regiment" was
among those at Valley
Forge, where by
February, 1778 only 79
out of 308 starving
men were fit for duty;
52 men could not
muster because of lack
of warm clothes. The
following year the
Regiment saw even
worse conditions as
they constructed and
guarded the
Pennsylvania/New York
frontier forts during
one the harshest
winters in history,
known as "The Winter
of the Deep Snow". In
1781 this Regiment was
disbanded as a
separate entity and
was folded into the
Maryland Continental
Troops, part of the
3rd Regiment. They
marched back to
Frederick and then to
Baltimore where they
were re-equipped to go
south to Yorktown.
The Roster of "The
German Regiment"
included the names of
Sgt. Frederick Wilheid,
Henry Delawter, Adam
Froshour, Michael
Moser, John Ridenour,
George Studdlemeier,
Henry Tomm, Adam
Stonebreaker,
Christian Apple, and
others.
Over the years, many
other Frederick men
enlisted in the
Continental troops;
Jacob Troxel served in
the Virginia line,
while the names of
Abraham and John
Troxel appear in
Maryland units.
Familiar names like
Clabaugh, Harbaugh,
and Fox joined the
fight. When the
Maryland troops came
home, whether from The
Maryland Line, The
German Regiment, The
Frontier Rangers, or
the militia companies,
some head their health
broken by battle and
hardships and many
were penniless after
years away from their
farms. But their heads
were high – they had
been among the first
men to meet the
veteran legions of
red-coated British
Regulars and
ac-counted themselves
so well over the
course of the war that
Gen. Washington
repeatedly recognized
their reliability,
gallantry, and
fighting spirit. Two
hundred and twenty
years later, like him,
we recognize their
achievement and
celebrate their
patriotism in our
cause.
Have your own memories
of Revolutionary Patriots in
the Thurmont Area?
If so, Please send them to us so we can
included them in our archives.
E-mail us at:
history@mythurmont.net
Read more articles by
Anne Cissel