08/27/2026
Some assume that Maryland is called the “Old Line State” as a reference to the Mason-Dixon Line, but the nickname dates back to the American Revolution. Today, August 27, marks 250 years since the Battle of Brooklyn, where, given the order to defend the American withdrawal from Long Island, the Maryland Line saved the Continental Army from annihilation and effectively held back the British advance. General George Washington watched what he called his “Old Line” and reportedly remarked to General Israel Putnam, “Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose.”
Mordecai Gist (1743–1792), depicted here in an intimate portrait by Charles Willson Peale, was an accomplished merchant, sea captain, and soldier. Gist helped form the Baltimore Independent Cadets in 1774, one of the first militia units in Maryland. By 1776, Maryland commissioned him as a major in the First Maryland Regiment. At the Battle of Brooklyn, Gist led the Maryland soldiers, known as the Maryland 400, in their multiple charges against the British line. He was one of the few to escape.
On Thursday, September 3, MCHC welcomes Owen Lourie, historian at the Maryland State Archives, for a lecture about these soldiers. Lourie is the author of the new book "Finding the Maryland 400," as well as the director of the namesake research project studying the First Maryland Regiment. Learn more and register at www.mdhistory.org/calendar/voices-of-the-maryland-400-marylands-revolutionary-war-soldiers-at-the-battle-of-brooklyn-in-1776.
Portrait of Mordecai Gist, oil on canvas by Charles Willson Peale, 1774. MCHC, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cavendish Darrell on behalf of the descendants of Harvey Cavendish Darrell, 1991.20.1
