Remembering John Foster and the Maryland Flying Camp
Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:
It’s Saturday Night again –
Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):
- We all have ancestors who were alive in 1776, and some of them may have celebrated the signing of the Declaration of Independence or even served in the military during the War.
- Describe one or more of your ancestors who lived in that time or served in the military.
With Independence Day just around the corner, this week’s challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to highlight one of my Revolutionary War patriots.
Rather than write about all of them (I’ll be doing that in a separate Fourth of July post), I decided to focus on John Foster, whose military service is documented in the records of the Maryland Archives.
John Foster’s Revolutionary War Service
John Foster served as a private in Captain Peter Mantz’s Company from Frederick County, Maryland. His name appears on the enrollment list for the company, preserved in the Maryland Archives, placing him among the men who volunteered during the summer of 1776.
Seeing an ancestor’s name on an original muster roll always brings history a little closer. Instead of simply reading that John “served in the Revolution,” I can picture him standing alongside his neighbors as they answered the call to defend the newly declared United States.
The Maryland Flying Camp
Captain Mantz’s company was part of what became known as the Maryland Flying Camp.
Created by the Continental Congress in June 1776, the Flying Camp was intended to be a mobile reserve force. Rather than remaining close to home like many local militia companies, these soldiers could be sent wherever General George Washington most needed reinforcements. Maryland agreed to furnish approximately 3,400 men for this temporary force, who enlisted to serve through the end of 1776.
The name “Flying Camp” might sound unusual today, but it simply referred to a force that could move quickly to respond to changing military situations. In modern terms, it was something like a rapid-response unit.
Preparing for War
The records surrounding Captain Mantz’s company offer an interesting glimpse into the realities of raising an army.
The enrollment list shows that the company had nearly ninety men by early July 1776. Correspondence between Maryland officials reveals that the company still needed basic military supplies before it could march. They lacked enough canteens, camp kettles, firearms, and money to purchase additional equipment.
It’s easy to imagine the excitement surrounding the Declaration of Independence, but these records remind us that the new nation also faced enormous logistical challenges. Armies needed clothing, weapons, cooking equipment, transportation, and funding—all while preparing to confront one of the world’s strongest military powers.
Marching North
Once organized, Captain Mantz’s company received orders to move from Frederick County. After assembling elsewhere in Maryland, the company eventually marched north to Philadelphia, where the Maryland Flying Camp joined Washington’s army during one of the most difficult periods of the Revolutionary War.
Although many Flying Camp enlistments lasted only until December 1776, these soldiers helped reinforce the Continental Army as it struggled through the New York campaign during the first year of American independence.
Remembering an Ordinary Patriot
John Foster was not a famous general or a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was one of thousands of ordinary citizens who left home to serve when his country needed him.
For me, that’s one of the joys of genealogy. A single name on a muster roll transforms an ancestor from a name on a pedigree chart into a real person who stood at an extraordinary moment in history.
As we celebrate Independence Day, I’m grateful to remember John Foster and the many other ordinary men and women whose sacrifices helped shape the nation we know today.