Episode Details

America’s Spartans. 400 Marylanders Hold Back 2,000 Redcoats To Save the Revolution. Long Island 1776

August 1776: The American Revolution was about to be crushed. At the Battle of Long Island (Brooklyn), Washington's army was surrounded by 20,000 British and Hessian troops. Escape routes were cut off. The Continental Army was collapsing. Then fewer than 400 men from the 1st Maryland Regiment, under Lord Stirling and Major Mordecai Gist, stepped forward for a mission few expected to survive. In one of the most heroic last stands in American military history, the Maryland 400 carried out repeated bayonet charges against veteran British forces at the Old Stone House, understanding the cost would be severe. Their sacrifice delayed the British advance for nearly an hour — just long enough for thousands of American troops to escape across the deadly Gowanus Marsh and retreat to Washington's camp at Brooklyn Heights.

Watch this video at- https://youtu.be/a4T-sywgeis?si=JsCqGoRk-ZvfmjAC

Clear and Present History

37.8K subscribers

99,668 views Jan 29, 2026 Clear and Present History Podcast

----- Learn More About the Maryland 400! A comprehensive book about the Maryland 400 — including biographies of all 870 known soldiers — is currently in development by the Maryland State Archives, with generous support from the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). 📘 If you’d like to learn more about the book or support the project, visit: https://msa.maryland.gov/maryland400 📜 You can also explore the Maryland SAR’s Maryland 400 initiatives here: https://mdssar.org/maryland400 ------ 👉 Subscribe to Clear and Present History for more:    / @clearpresenthistory   🗽 Join this channel to support American history research:    / @clearpresenthistory   ⭐ GET THE BOOK: Washington's Immortals by Patrick K. O'Donnell. https://amzn.to/46iuxB2 (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases; which help support our channel's work!) ----- Only 12 will survive. But their sacrifice bought Washington the time he needed. Days later, under cover of a miraculous fog, the Continental Army made a daring nighttime escape across the East River—9,000 men evacuated in complete silence. The Maryland 400 didn't just delay the British. They saved the American Revolution. Just weeks after the Declaration of Independence was declared. Without their stand: Washington’s army may have been destroyed. The evacuation across the East River never happens. The Continental Army — and the Revolution — could have ended in 1776