(Otho Holland Williams in the American Revolution is the t...)
Otho Holland Williams in the American Revolution is the third military biography in our series on General Washington's best officers. Williams' exceptional military career began at the very outset of the Revolutionary War when, at 26, he joined a Maryland company of rifleman as a junior officer. He participated in the siege of Boston in 1776 and the defense of Fort Washington, where he was wounded and captured by the British during the fierce battle. The Maryland legislature promoted Williams to Colonel of the Sixth Maryland Regiment while he was a prisoner of war, and, after he was exchanged, he commanded a regiment during the Battle of Monmouth in 1778. He was sent south in the spring of 1780, and participated in the heroic stand of the Maryland Line at the Battle of Camden. He commanded Nathanael Greene's screening force with skill and daring during the Race to the Dan River early in 1781. Then led his regiments in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in North Carolina; and at Hobkirk's Hill and Eutaw Springs in South Carolina. He was awarded a sword by congress for gallantry in those actions. This talented infantry commander was promoted to Brigadier General after the Battle of Eutaw Springs, which Nathanael Greene called by far the most obstinate and bloody I ever saw. Otho Holland Williams returned to Baltimore soon after victory in the South was assured.
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Otho Holland Williams was born on March 1749 in Prince Georges County, Maryland, the son of Joseph and Prudence (Holland) Williams, who had emigrated from South Wales a few years before. In 1750 the family moved to the mouth of Conococheague Creek, in what was then Frederick County, where many years later (1787) Williams founded the town of Williamsport. His father presently died, leaving only a small estate for the support of his seven children.
At the age of thirteen Otho secured employment in the office of the county clerk at Frederick. In time he became sufficiently qualified to take complete charge of the office.
About 1767 he moved to Baltimore, where he remained similarly employed until 1774 when he returned to Frederick and embarked upon a commercial career.
On June 22, 1775, he was appointed first lieutenant in a company raised in Maryland under Capt. Thomas Price for service in New England. He participated in the siege of Boston and was promoted to the rank of captain.
In 1776 rifle companies from Maryland and Virginia were combined into a regiment of which Williams was appointed major, June 27. At the fall of Fort Washington, November 16, he was wounded in the groin and taken prisoner. At first placed on parole in New York, he was later thrown into the provost's jail, charged with secretly communicating military information to Washington; he shared a cell with Ethan Allen. Insufficient food and unsanitary quarters seriously impaired his health before he was exchanged, January 16, 1778. In the meantime he had been appointed, December 10, 1776, colonel of the 6th Maryland Regiment.
Rejoining the army in New Jersey, he took part in the battle of Monmouth, served as deputy adjutant-general under Horatio Gates in 1780, and was present at the battles of Camden and King's Mountain. Gates's successor, Nathanael Greene, appointed him adjutant-general. He commanded the rear-guard during Greene's retreat across North Carolina and took a distinguished part in the subsequent battles of Guilford Court House, Hobkirk Hill, and Eutaw Springs.
On May 9, 1782, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general. At the conclusion of the war, he retired from the army. On January 6, 1783, he was elected naval officer of the Baltimore district by the state council of Maryland. After the erection of the federal government under the Constitution of the United States, he was appointed collector of the port by President Washington. In May 1792, on account of ill-health and family responsibilities, he declined a commission as ranking brigadier-general, second in command of the army. In a vain attempt to improve his physical condition, he made a trip to Barbados in 1793. He died at Miller's Town, Virginia, and was buried in Riverview Cemetery, Williamsport. Over his grave the Mediary Lodge of Masons erected a commemorative shaft.
(Otho Holland Williams in the American Revolution is the t...)
In 1786 he married Mary, a daughter of William Smith, a wealthy merchant of Baltimore. She bore him four sons.
