Mordecai Gist (1743–1792) was a member of a prominent Maryland family who became a brigadier general in command of the Maryland Line in the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Life

Gist was born February 22, 1742/3 in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

(one source says Reisterstown, Maryland), the fourth child of Thomas and Susannah (Cockey) Gist. Thomas Gist's father, Captain Richard Gist (1684 – August 28, 1741), was the surveyor of Maryland's Eastern Shore and one of the commissioners who laid out Baltimore Town in 1729. Richard Gist's father, Christopher Gist (1655 or 1659 – Feb. 1690), was an English immigrant who came to the

Province of Maryland The Province of Maryland was an Kingdom of England, English and later British colonization of the Americas, British colony in North America from 1634 until 1776, when the province was one of the Thirteen Colonies that joined in supporting the A ...

before 1682 and settled in "South Canton" on the south bank of the Patapsco River. Christopher Gist married Edith Cromwell (1660–1694). Gist was the nephew of Christopher Gist (1706–1759). This Christopher Gist was a Colonial-era explorer, scout, and frontier settler who was employed by the Ohio Company and had served with 21-year-old Colonel

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

. (Christopher Gist is credited with twice saving Washington's life when they were surveying land in the Ohio country in 1753.) Mordecai Gist was also distantly related to John Eager Howard. Mordecai Gist was educated for commercial pursuits. At the beginning of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

, the young men of

associated under the title of the "Baltimore Independent Company" and elected Gist as their

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. It was the first company raised in

for the defense of popular liberty.

Revolutionary War service

In 1776, Gist was appointed

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

of Smallwood's Maryland Regiment, and was with them in the

Battle of Long Island The Battle of Long Island, also known as the Battle of Brooklyn and the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was an action of the American Revolutionary War fought on August 27, 1776, at and near the western edge of Long Island in present-day Brooklyn ...

, where they fought a delaying action at the Old Stone House (Brooklyn, New York), allowing the American army to escape encirclement. In January 1779, the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

appointed him as a brigadier general in the

, and he took the command of the 2nd Maryland Brigade. He fought stubbornly at the

Battle of Camden The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the Kingdom of Great Britain, British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

in 1780. At one time after a bayonet charge, his force secured fifty prisoners, but the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

under

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

rallied, and the Marylanders gave way. Gist escaped, and, a year later, he was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. (Gist appears (back row, right side) in

John Trumbull John Trumbull (June 6, 1756 – November 10, 1843) was an American painter and military officer best known for his historical paintings of the American Revolutionary War, of which he was a veteran. He has been called the "Painter of the Revolut ...

's painting

Surrender of Lord Cornwallis The ''Surrender of Lord Cornwallis'' is an oil painting by John Trumbull. The painting, which was completed in 1820, now hangs in the United States Capitol rotunda, rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. The painting depicts th ...

which hangs in the rotunda of the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.) He joined the southern army under

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

, and he was given the command of the light corps again when the army was remodeled in 1782. On August 26, 1782, he rallied the broken forces of the Americans under John Laurens after they had been scattered in an ambush set by a British foraging party.

After the war

After the war, Gist relocated to a

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

near

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

. He was admitted as an original member of The

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a lineage society, fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of milita ...

and was elected as the first vice president of the Maryland Society on November 22, 1783. He later transferred his membership to the South Carolina Society. Gist also served as the grand master of Freemasons in

. He had two children that lived to adulthood, both sons, one of whom he named "Independent" and the other "States." Various sources suggest he died between August and September 1792, at the age of 49, in Charleston, but his will was written on the "First day of September" and probated the following month on October 19, 1792. He is buried in St. Michael's Churchyard next to his son, States Gist, and daughter Susannah Gist. Mordecai Gist was distantly related to States Rights Gist, a brigadier general in the

Confederate army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

who died of wounds received while leading his brigade in a charge against U.S. fortifications at the

Battle of Franklin The Battle of Franklin was fought on November 30, 1864, in Franklin, Tennessee, as part of the Franklin–Nashville Campaign of the American Civil War. It was one of the worst disasters of the war for the Confederate States Army. Confederate L ...

in November 1864. States Rights Gist was the grandson of William Gist (born 1711), cousin of Mordecai Gist. His papers are held at the Maryland Historical Society.

Notes

References

External links

*
The Society of the Cincinnati

The American Revolution Institute
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gist, Mordecai 1743 births 1792 deaths American slave owners Burials at St. Michael's Churchyard (Charleston) Continental Army generals Continental Army officers from Maryland Military personnel from Baltimore People from colonial Maryland