John Bowen (Boen) enlisted in the First Maryland Regiment’s First Company as a private underneath the leadership of Captain John Hoskins Stone, January 24, 1776. On his enlistment date, Bowen was sick and in the hospital. [1]
The First Company primarily recruited their men from Charles county, Maryland, where John Bowen assumably lived prior to his enlistment. After entering the ranks as a private, Bowen would have trained with his company in Annapolis after [reaching] good health. Undoubtedly, Bowen was healthy enough to travel with the First Regiment north to rendezvous with General George Washington outside of New York. There, majority of the Maryland line experienced the bitter taste of war for the first time. []
The Battle of Brooklyn (or Battle of Long Island) occurred August 27, 1776 and was the first major battle to occur after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The British crossed into the British crown’s former territory with the intention of ending the war with this battle, bringing on shore nearly fifteen thousand troops accompanied by the Royal Navy. [2]…show more content… The lack of information resulted in a Continental retreat. The Maryland troops were located near Gowanus Road and the First Company was specifically located on the left wing. [3] Bowen, alongside the other men, retreated through the marsh or the mucky creek. At this time, there are no known men of the First Company who were killed at the Battle of Brooklyn.
