Last Battle of the English Civil War

New England is known for its Puritan heritage, while Maryland is known, and rightly so, for its Catholic legacy. Both areas today are known currently for their "liberal" (an unhelpful but often-used label) Democratic politics. What is less known today, is that Maryland has a Puritan heritage too. In fact, the "last battle of the English Civil War" was fought on Maryland territory.

The English Civil War encompassed military engagements in the three kingdoms: England, Ireland and Scotland beginning in 1642. Meanwhile, the colonies were not immune to the conflicts in the motherland. Puritan colonists had attempted to settle in Virginia as early as 1638 or sooner, but with Virginia Anglican authorities firmly in control at the time, Puritan colonists in Virginia were forced to move north and settle in Maryland. They did so on the banks of the Severn River, first establishing a little community called Providence, then another town nearby which came be known as Annapolis, the future capital of Maryland and, briefly, of the United States (1783-1784). Puritans gradually consolidated their power base from there. It was in 1652 at the site of the famous Maryland Liberty Tree (which until 1999 was located on the campus of St. John's College) that Puritan colonists here are said to have negotiated a peace treaty with the Susquahannock Indians.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the 1651 Battle of Worcester consolidated Oliver Cromwell's hold on England and Scotland. But Royalist threats to the Commonwealth were far from over. The Penruddock Uprising by Royalists in March 1655 was a failed attempt to overthrow the Protectorate.

In the complex political situation arising from the conflict in the mother country, Puritan colonists wrested control of the Maryland Provincial Government in 1654 from the Proprietary rule of Cecilius Calvert, Lord Baltimore. From approximately 1654 to 1658, Maryland was ruled by a Puritan assembly which met at the home of Richard Preston, "Preston-on-Patuxent." Preston (d. 1669) was a Puritan at the time, but later became known as the "Great Quaker."

The Puritan/Parliamentary-Anglo-Catholic/Royalist conflict in Maryland came to a head on March 25, 1655. The forces of deposed Royalist governor William Stone attempted to crush the Puritans by sailing towards and marching on their stronghold at the Severn, but Puritan forces led by William Fuller defeated the Royalists in naval and land engagements. The Battle of the Severn was the first battle ever fought between American soldiers on American soil, and it was the only battle in America in which the Commonwealth Flag was flown as well as the first battle in which the Provincial flag of Maryland was flown (black and yellow colors).

A Puritan assembly ruled Maryland until negotiations resulted in the relinquishing of their power to Lord Baltimore on April 27, 1658, and a general amnesty for all parties concerned. As elsewhere, the time of Puritan rule was brief, but not to be forgotten. President John F. Kennedy used to enjoy the lines of a musical: "Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief shining moment that was known as Camelot." His niece Kathleen Townsend Kennedy was lieutenant governor of Maryland from 1995 to 2003. As a former of citizen of Maryland, I hope that it will not be forgot, that for one brief shining moment it was a Puritan Maryland.