William Smallwood (1732 - 14 February 1792) was born in Charles County, Maryland along with 6 siblings. He and his brothers were sent to England for their education at Eton. William served during the French and Indian War, Seven Years war and the Revolutionary War. He was served in the Maryland Congress followed by 3 terms as the Governor of Maryland.
He had never married and at his estate (now Smallwood Park) where he farmed tobacco with the help of 56 slaves is his final resting place.
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When the American Revolutionary War began, Smallwood was appointed a colonel of the 1st Maryland Regiment in 1776. He led the regiment in the New York and New Jersey campaign.
For their role in the Battle of Brooklyn on August 27, 1776, when the Maryland Regiment heroically covered the hasty retreat of the routed Continental Army, General George Washington promoted Smallwood to brigadier general. Washington bestowed on the regiment a future state nickname, "Old Line State", in reference to the extreme sacrifice of the Maryland 400 to hold the line at the Old Stone House against a vastly superior force of British and Hessian troops while suffering massive casualties, roughly 70 percent of whom were killed in action. Shortly thereafter, Smallwood led what remained of his regiment to fight "alongside soldiers from Connecticut, Delaware, and New York" in the Battle of White Plains, when he was twice wounded but "prevented the destruction of the entire Continental Army".
On December 21, 1777, Smallwood commanded 1,500 Delaware and Maryland troops at the Continental Army Encampment Site on the east side of Brandywine Creek, to prevent occupation of Wilmington by the British and to protect the flour mills on the Brandywine. He continued to serve under George Washington in the Philadelphia campaign, where his regiment again distinguished itself at Germantown. He was then quartered at Foulke House, which was occupied by the family of Sally Wister.
In 1780, he was a part of General Horatio Gates' army that was routed at Camden, South Carolina; his brigade was among the formations that held their ground, garnering Smallwood a promotion to major general. Smallwood's accounts of the battle and criticisms of Gates' behavior before and during the battle may have contributed to the Congressional inquiries into the debacle. Opposed to the hiring and promotion of foreigners, Smallwood objected to working under Baron von Steuben. Smallwood briefly commanded the militia forces of North Carolina in late 1780 and early 1781 before returning to Maryland, staying there for the remainder of the war. He resigned from the Continental Army in 1783 and later that year was elected to serve as the first president of the newly established Society of the Cincinnati of Maryland
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I have allowed one entry for a grave of British solders, but it was an exception. Please only list graves for Colonial soldiers.
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