On Exhibition

Maryland in the American Revolution
February 27 - September 5, 2009

"For should the Sword be once drawn, no one can say when it will be sheathed."

Maryland politician Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer issued this warning as the conflict between Great Britain and its American colonies grew deeper in the early 1770s. Like Jenifer, most Maryland colonists considered themselves loyal citizens of the crown. “A middle temperature” between the northern and southern American colonies, Maryland had become known for its citizens’ moderate approach to colonial politics. This reputation would be tested by the American Revolution.

Although Maryland would see no battles on its soil during the Revolutionary War, many of its citizens served the patriot cause as soldiers, statesmen, privateers, farmers, and merchants. The fifth most populous American colony on the eve of the Revolutionary War, Maryland raised seven regiments for the Continental Army, whose ranks were filled by nearly three thousand men. They marched to Boston and Canada as hostilities broke out in 1775, helped defend New York City and Philadelphia, and battled throughout the South in campaigns that ultimately forced the British to surrender. As peace drew near in 1783, more than one hundred veteran Maryland officers joined their fellow soldiers in establishing The Society of the Cincinnati to promote the achievement of American independence. Among Maryland’s original members of the Society were William Smallwood, Otho Holland Williams, and the artist James Peale.

Through more than forty artifacts, paintings, rare maps, and manuscripts—drawn almost exclusively from the Society’s collections—the exhibition explores Maryland’s path through the American Revolution, from the decision to vote for independence and raising the state’s first army regiments to the southern battles fought by Maryland Continentals’ and their transition from war to peace. Highlights of the exhibition include two gold and silver presentation swords awarded by Congress to two Maryland officers for valor, Maryland officer Tench Tilghman’s journal of the Siege of Yorktown in 1781, and two letters on military discipline from George Washington to Maryland major Thomas Lansdale. The Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland provided generous support for this exhibition, which is the eleventh in a series examining the character of the American Revolution in each of the thirteen original states and France. An illustrated catalog accompanies the exhibition.

Image credits:
(1) Detail of a sword awarded to Samuel Smith by Congress, made by C. Liger in Paris, 1785. The Society of the Cincinnati, Gift of Dr. B. Nolan Carter II, Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland. Photograph by Gregory R. Staley.
(2) Carte de la Virginie et du Maryland engraved by Gilles Robert de Vaugondy (French, 1688-1766), 1755. The Society of the Cincinnati, The Robert Charles Lawrence Fergusson Collection. Photograph by Gregory R. Staley.