Brother Jonathans Images, No. 1. (Formerly Continental Images, by Gregory J. W. Urwin, Phd.

) Captain John Gassaway, 2nd Maryland Regiment Artist: Charles Willson Peale Year: Circa 1781-83 Collection: Smithsonian

John Gassaway was born in Anne Arundel County , Maryland , on June 10, 1754. He was the son of Henry Gassaway and Dinah Battee Gassaway. Gassaway was among the first Marylanders to spring to arms following the outbreak of American Revolution. He enlisted in Colonel William Smallwood Maryland Battalion on January 3, 1776. Gassaway was appointed an ensign in the 3rd Battalion, Maryland Flying Camp, in July 1776. The Flying Camp was a mobile reserve authorized by the Continental Congress. It consisted mainly of militia and state troops from Maryland , Pennsylvania , and Delaware . The best of these troops, including Smallwoods Battalion, joined General George Washingtons Main Army in time to participate in its futile defense of New York City. When the enlistments of Smallwoods Battalion and the Maryland Flying Camp ran out at the end of 1776, Maryland raised a Continental Line consisting of seven regiments recruited for three years or the duration. Gassaway received an appointment as second lieutenant in the 2nd Maryland Regiment effective December 10, 1776. He was promoted to first lieutenant on April 17, 1777, captain-lieutenant on July 1, 1779, and captain on April 2, 1780. Soon after Captain Gassaways last promotion, the Maryland Division marched south to form the backbone of the army entrusted to Major General Horatio Gates to reclaim South Carolina from British rule. Gates led his army to disaster at the Battle of Camden on August 16, 1780. The Maryland regiments stood, fought, and were cut to pieces after the Rebel militia fled. Captain Gassaway survived the slaughter and was taken prisoner. The British paroled him, and he went unexchanged to the end of the war. One reason he remained on parole may be because there was no company for him to command. Gassaway took pride in his Continental service and became one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati in 1783. He married Mary Quynn, the daughter of Allen Quynn, in 1788, and they had three children. After Marys death, Gassaway married Elizabeth Price in 1799, and fathered three more children. Gassaway died on June 25, 1820. Curators at the Smithsonian Institution date Gassaways portrait miniature to 1790. Gassaways coat, however, reflects wartime styles, and it is more likely that Charles Willson Peale painted him during the three years he spent on parole following his capture at Camden. Gassoway wears a dark blue regimental coat with scarlet facings, which conforms to the uniform General George Washington prescribed for Maryland Continentals in his regulations of 1779. Gassaways lapels are the winged variety. The coats buttons are silver, and the buttonholes on the lapels are decorated with rectangular loops made of either silver lace or couched silver threads over vellum. A silver epaulette adorns Gassaways right shoulder which is mounted on scarlet broadcloth. He also has a white ruffled shirt, a black neck stock, and a white waistcoat. He wears his hair powdered and en queue. It is

also close-cropped on the top and sides, which was a common style among Continental officers. Many thanks to Dr. Lawrence E. Babits of East Carolina University for supplying the details of Gassaways military career.

Death of DeKalb, Battle of Camden, 16 August 1780, New York Public Library (Study by Alonzo Chappel) Brother Jonathans Images Consortium Neal T. Hurst tailor@nhursttailor.com John U. Rees R. Scott Stephenson Matthew C. White ____________________________________ (Series introduction below.)

(July 2012) Welcome to the military artwork series, Brother Jonathans Images. We will be following the same premise as Redcoat Images moderated by Dr. Greg Urwin (now nearing 1,900 installments). Greg began this new series, originally called Continental Images, in August 2010 with two contributions. His Redcoat Images project continued on and eclipsed the newcomer. Our small consortium thought that artwork showing the soldiers and uniforms of the fledgling republics military forces is well worth disseminating and we now continue with Dr. Urwins blessings. The series will cover the period 1753 to the end of 1799, the first date denoting George Washingtons rise in military service and the latter coinciding with his death after serving as commander-in-chief and first president of the United States. Images will include militia, officers (including foreign volunteers), and soldiers of the Confederation and early Republic. The narratives will focus on clothing and officers careers, but other pertinent information will be presented as well. Guest contributors will be considered, and anyone with information, images, or artwork sources they wish to share please email Neal Hurst at tailor@nhursttailor.com. With that in mind, we hope to make this an informative and entertaining, as well as a collaborative effort. Our first installments will begin with Greg Urwins Continental Images Nos. 1 and 2, renamed Brother Jonathans Images to reflect the wider umbrella. Our initial contribution, No. 3, will immediately follow.