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In the annals of Revolutionary War history, one Caroline County native stands out as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America.
While many patriots’ names have faded into the mist of history, Thomas Carney Jr. will be remembered for his valor and loyalty during our country’s struggle for freedom.
Born a free African American, Carney not only distinguished himself as a soldier with the famous Maryland Line (hence, the “Old Line State,” one of Maryland’s nicknames), but also for saving the life of Captain Perry Benson of Talbot County at the siege of British Fort Ninety-Six in South Carolina.
In his obituary, Carney was recognized as “always, with his brave regiment, … among the first to charge” the enemy.
A marker was erected on the Caroline County Court House green in April 2022, presented to Carney’s descendants and the Caroline community by the General Perry Benson Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Over 100 people attended the ceremony for the marker’s unveiling at the corner of 2nd and Market streets.
From the outset of the Revolution, both Carney at age 21, and Benson at age 19, joined military service as privates. Both saw action in almost every major battle.
A tall, imposing farmer born near Henderson, Carney was one of Maryland’s 95 African-American soldiers. He was constantly on the move, experiencing weather extremes during the 8-year war, and confronting the foe in White Plains, New York; Germantown, Pennsylvania; Monmouth, New Jersey; Guilford Court House, North Carolina; Hobkirk’s Hill (Camden), British Fort Ninety-Six and Eutaw Springs, South Carolina. Some accounts place him at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, from Dec. 1777 to June 1778. However, according to one historian, Carney’s militia company was posted at nearby Wilmington, Delaware instead.
Regardless of the actual location, his obituary in the July 22, 1828 Daily National Intelligencer noted, “With the spirit of true patriotism, Tom bore his share of privation and suffering.”
At Camden, Carney was among the soldiers of the Second Maryland Brigade who boldly helped hold ground against General Cornwallis and was “among the first to charge” with bayonets, according to his obituary.
Again in a battle against Cornwallis at Guilford Court House, historian William Calderhead wrote, “In the fierce hand to hand exchanges Carney reportedly bayoneted seven of the enemy. His regiment matched this effort and earned the praise of a British historian who referred to it as the ‘finest regiment in the American army.’”
Marylanders were among the soldiers who besieged Fort Ninety-Six in western South Carolina, and company commander Benson suffered a serious wound to his arm. In the extreme heat and humidity of the month-long siege in late spring 1781, Carney lifted Benson on his soldiers and carried him to safety.
Carney’s 1828 obituary described the incident: “Though Benson was considerably above the common size, (Carney) carried him on his shoulders some considerable distance, to the place at which the surgeon was stationed; but, like a true solder, held on to his musket, that had so often protected him in the hour of danger. At length, overcome by excessive fatigue and heat, as he laid the almost lifeless body of Benson at the feet of the surgeon, he fainted. After he came to himself, he determined to join his regiment again; but, to his great mortification, was peremptorily ordered by the commanding officer to remain, and protect his captain, which he did with care and tenderness.”
According to John Rees, writing in the Journal of the American Revolution, a “particularly remarkable” detail about Carney’s service was his promotion to corporal after his transfer to the 7th Regiment.
“The promotion may have been due to his previous militia service, or that Carney was “considerably above the common size”; in any case, during the war only four Black Continental soldiers served in the rank of corporal, and none are known to have been sergeants,” Rees wrote.
After the war, Carney returned to farming, leasing land just south of Adam’s Landing. According to his direct descendant Bruce Herndon of Philadelphia, his fifth great-grandfather married Grace and had four sons and four daughters. Depending on the source, Carney’s birthdate is approximate, and either 1854 or 1859.
Herndon, an information technology auditor, is also related to the Groce family, which also traces their heritage to free African Americans in Goldsboro.
“I feel very proud,” Herndon said of his patriot ancestor. “It's quite special; it's quite a history for the family in terms of our presence here in the country before its founding.”
An undated article written for The Caroline Review by the Queen Anne’s County Record-Observer’s longtime editor Dan Tabler mentions Herndon’s grandfather Horace Noble Carney, a retired postal worker in Philadelphia. “This is the first I’ve heard about him being in the Revolutionary War,” Carney told Tabler. “It makes me quite proud.”
Herndon said military service is a tradition on both sides of his family, including in his own generation with two brothers serving in the armed forces. “People in the family have been in every single (American) war,” he said.
While the Revolution officially ended in January 1783, he remained in the army until November. “Upon discharge he received a cash bonus and a bounty entitling him to one hundred acres of land on the frontier in western Maryland. Like most Maryland veterans (92.5 percent), he probably sold his warrants for ready cash,” Calderhead wrote.
During the War of 1812, Brigadier General Benson and Carney reunited during the Battle of St. Michaels. While reviewing the militia, Benson “‘would always have Thomas Carney mounted on a horse at his side.’ He knew he was a soldier who had fought with valor, and he wanted to honor him,” according to a June 23, 1900, tribute to Carney in The Denton Journal.
Benson was influential in obtaining a war pension for Carney. It is believed he was “the sole recipient in Caroline County of a pension from the Federal Government. At the age of 67 he was placed on the roll of $96.00 a year,” The Denton Journal noted. One hundred dollars in 1819 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,600 today.
When he was home at The Wheatlands on the Miles River, Benson would travel to Denton to visit Carney until Carney’s death at the age of 74. Although the location of his grave site is unknown, Carney may have been buried on the farm.
Almost a century after his death, the relationship between Carney and Benson was recalled and celebrated in the City of Brotherly Love a few years ago when Herndon made a surprising connection. At a gathering of the Board of Associates of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, he chanced to meet one of Benson’s descendants, also an Associate.
“His name happened to be Perry Benson,” Herndon said.
