Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington Volume 11 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1908 Excerpt: ...command of Captain Thomas Price, were the first to go to the assistance of Massachusetts after the Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. They left Frederick Town on the 18th of July, 1775, and marched five hundred and fifty miles to Cambridge. In January, 1776, the Maryland Convention resolved that the Province "be immediately put in the best state of defence," and that a sufficient armed force be raised for its protection. John Murdock became the Colonel, Thomas Johns the Lieutenant-Colonel, William Brooke the First Major, and William Deakins the Second Major of one of the battalions of Frederick County militia raised under this resolution. They were all residents of Georgetown or its suburbs, as were also Captain Benjamin Spiker and the other officers and men of the battalion. John Yoast, a Georgetown gunsmith, entered into a contract with the Maryland Council of Safety to furnish a number of muskets. Major William Deakins, Jr., of the 29th Battalion, in a letter to the Council, dated at Georgetown December 18, 1776, recommends Yoast very highly, saying that he was a man much to be depended on and would not deceive the Council; that he had a number of hands employed and was well prepared to carry on extensively the work of gunmaking. The muskets, as described in the requirements of the Council were to be 42 inches in length, of an inch at the bore, 1 inch diameter at the breech and of an inch at the muzzle, with good double bridle locks, black walnut or maple stocks and plain strong brass mounting, bayonets with steel blades, 17 inches long, steel ramrods, double screws, priming wires and brushes fitted thereto, with a pair of brass moulds for every 80 muskets, to cast 12 bullets on one side and on the other side to cast shot of such size as tha...