The Maryland 400 T-Shirt - The Sacrifice at Long Island

August 27, 1776. Brooklyn, New York. Roughly 270 Marylanders charge a force of 2,000 British regulars and Hessians, six times, into the muzzles of an army that has just landed 20,000 men on Long Island. They are buying time. The Continental Army is collapsing behind them.

They are men of Colonel William Smallwood's 1st Maryland Regiment, the best-drilled and best-equipped unit in the entire Continental line. The Philadelphia papers called them "the most macaroni cocked hat, and hottest blood in the Union." Most of them are under 25. A few are 19. Many of them will never see Maryland again.

Lord Stirling leads them. Smallwood is stuck at a court martial back in the lines and misses the fight. By the time the smoke clears at the Old Stone House on the southwestern tip of Long Island, 256 Marylanders are killed, wounded, or captured. Two-thirds of the men committed to the rearguard. They held long enough for Washington to slip his army across the East River in fog and rain, alive to fight another day. Without the Maryland 400, the war ends in August 1776.

Washington stood watching from a hill above Gowanus Creek as they charged for the last time, and reportedly said, "Good God, what brave fellows I must this day lose." The state of Maryland has been called the Old Line State ever since, in their honor.

About this design

This Maryland 400 design centers a Continental soldier in full hunting-shirt kit against the Maryland state flag in shield form, with the subtitle The Sacrifice at Long Island. Part of our America 250 Revolutionary War collection commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Brooklyn, August 27, 2026 - exactly 250 years to the day from the charge that saved the war. A 1776-2026 commemorative tee built for people who know the difference between heritage and a costume.

America 250, made by veterans

Tactically Acquired is a veteran-owned business. This Maryland 400 shirt is part of the America 250 collection commemorating 250 years of military service from 1775 to 2026. Every design is grounded in actual unit history, not print-on-demand patriotism. Honor 250 years of America and the military that built her. Houston, Texas. Veteran-built.

Honor the Past. Wear the Future.