The purpose of this book is to identify Maryland residents who served in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812 and not to create a detailed service record for each individual man. There are mistakes! Due to misspelling of surnames, missing records, and other factors, some men are missing, some men are listed twice, and some men are not properly identified. Overall, this book should be used to identify soldiers and to point out what records are available for each individual. It is entirely safe to say that Marylanders served in nearly every U.S. Army regiment during the war and that they also fought in every major battle in both the United States and in Canada. Marylanders, by birth, had migrated to all parts of the United States by the start of the war. Marylanders, who were seamen, joined the army at every major U.S. seaport after the British blockade made it too dangerous to sail into the open waters around our coastline. There are a total of 5,452 men listed in this book. Twenty-seven men have been identified as being African-Americans; 545 men became prisoners of war; and, 541 men died during the war either in battle, from wounds, from diseases, or from injuries. There were ten Marylanders who graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and who served in this war. There is also one woman, Mary Harker, who may have been a washerwoman in the 14th Infantry.This book honors the memory of those Marylanders who fought in the War of 1812 while serving as members of the U.S. Army. The War of 1812 Society in the State of Maryland was founded by the soldiers themselves as they stood strong against the British attack in 1814 and stated: "We will never disband".
