John Gunby
[1] He entered service volunteering as a minuteman in 1775 and fought for the American cause until the end earning praise as probably the most brilliant soldier whom Maryland contributed to the War of Independence.
The Gunby family arrived in Maryland around 1660, coming from Yorkshire, England, and settling in Queen Anne's County.
In the spring of 1775, at the age of 30, Gunby volunteered as a minuteman, for which his father, a staunch loyalist, warned him that he was running the risk of being hanged as a traitor.
[3]When the Revolution began, Gunby joined the American forces and formed an independent military company at his own expense.
The Maryland Troops, Gunby's company among them, deserted by their commander fought until they were pressed on all sides and forced to retreat.
In early January 1781, Greene detached four companies of the 1st Maryland Regiment, to reinforce Daniel Morgan's forces.
On January 17, 1781, Morgan's newly reinforced army engaged a significantly larger British force under the command of Banastre Tarleton and won a decisive victory.
Gunby, his command threatened on two fronts, ordered a fierce charge and swept Webster's forces from the field.
After a brief exchange of musket fire, in which Gunby's horse was shot from under him, the 1st Maryland Regiment charged the Guards unit, who were quickly routed.
[9] To this end, General Greene moved his main force—made up of two Virginia and two Maryland regiments of Continentals as well as a force of Cavalry under William Washington—with all possible speed towards Camden, South Carolina where Lord Francis Rawdon was stationed with 900 troops.
Upon arriving at Camden, and finding his planned assault impractical, Greene retired his forces to a low heavily wooded ridge locally called Hobkirk's Hill.
[11] Having received intelligence from a deserter on April 24 that the Continental Artillery and Militia had been detached from Greene's main force, Rawdon decided to attack.
[12] However, on the morning of April 25, 1781 Lieutenant Colonel Carrington had brought the artillery back to Hobkirk's Hill along with a supply of provisions which were distributed to the Continental troops.
[17][18] The day after the Battle of Hobkirk's Hill, General Greene addressed his troops and presented a pointed comment that Gunby apparently felt this was directed at him and he immediately applied for a court of inquiry to review his actions on the field.
But his order for the regiment to retire, which broke the line, was extremely improper and unmilitary, and, in all probability the only cause why we did not obtain a complete victory[21]Greene was firm in his belief that Gunby was the sole reason for the Continental Army's loss at Hobkirk Hill.
Fortune has not been our friend[22]Henry Lee, "Light Horse Harry", gave a different opinion in his memoirs of the war stating that the Maryland troops abandoned their position contrary to the efforts and example of Gunby and the other Continental officers on the field.
[25] Nor did the tribunal or Greene appear to accept that Gunby's order for the four companies that were still advancing to reform their line to be a proper military tactic.
Lee offers another reason for the American defeat at Hobkirk's Hill, suggesting that Greene's order to the Cavalry under Williams to circle around the British and attack them in the rear was a plausible explanation for the loss.
Of the Maryland Line's actions at the Battle of Eutaw Springs, General Greene wrote in his official report of the engagement: Nothing could exceed the gallantry and firmness of both officers and soldiers upon this occasion.
His father, who died in 1788, bequeathed him a large farm in Worcester County, Maryland, two miles south of Snow Hill.
Gunby was also known to help poor families build houses and awaiting their convenience for payment, promoting the construction of new roads, furnishing horse teams for those in need and contributing toward the maintenance of places of worship.
