Last updated: January 27, 2024
Person
Samuel Neale
U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
Quick Facts
Significance:
Steward, Surgeon’s Aide, First Maryland Cavalry (Tilghman’s Cavalry) from Washington County, Maryland, War of 1812
Place of Birth:
unknown
Place of Death:
Frederick, Maryland
Date of Death:
June 15, 1872
Place of Burial:
Frederick, Maryland
Cemetery Name:
St. John’s Catholic Church
Samuel Neale, an African American veteran of the War of 1812 was born around 1795. During the war, he was a steward and medical assistant to Dr. William Hammond, surgeon of the First Maryland Cavalry (Tilghman’s Cavalry) from Washington County, Maryland. It is unknown whether Samuel Neale was enslaved or free during the time of his service, however United States Census records show that by 1830, Mr. Neale was living in Frederick, Maryland, was married, and had several children. In the census, he is listed as a “free mulatto.”
While the United States Army prohibited all men of color from enlisting in the Army, the State of Maryland did not enact such an all-encompassing prohibition. However, gun laws at the time restricted men of color to non-combat positions. Often, these men volunteered as servants or stewards to local officers or doctors, and, by law, these positions were entitled to the pay of a private.
In 1870, Mr. Neale applied for and received a pension from the State of Maryland under an Act passed by the General Assembly “for allowing pensions to certain soldiers and widows of soldiers of the war of eighteen hundred and twelve.” Per this Act, Mr. Neale received an annual pension of eighty dollars, in four equal payments of twenty dollars each during his natural life. Mr. Neale was the only African American to receive such a pension.
Portions of Mr. Neale’s pension application, certified by Frederick County judges, were published by the Frederick Examiner on 2 February 1870, and provides a detailed description of his service, as well as the movements of his cavalry unit before, during and after the Battle of Gaithersburg and at the Battle of Baltimore. He states that early in the summer of 1814, he accompanied Col. [Frisby] Tilghman’s regiment of cavalry from Washington County, as steward to Dr. Hammond and later as his aide. During the journey, Hammond’s aide was dismissed, and Neale was appointed surgeon’s aide in his place. “His duties were to attend the doctor on the battlefield, carry his case of surgical instruments and assist in the care of the wounded. He was armed and equipped as a soldier in order to fight the enemy when hard pressed.”
Mr. Neale describes his unit’s arrival at Benedict, Maryland, where they first “encountered the enemy.” They then shadowed the British troops to Marlboro, where a skirmish took place, and then were ordered to Bladensburg. After Bladensburg, his unit was ordered to Spring Garden in Baltimore to reconnoiter the western approaches to the city. He described that he was “on the ground, fully armed, and ready to defend the ladies and children, who were crying in a heart-rending manner around me.” Here, he was wounded in the hand when a pistol misfired.
The original muster roll of Tilghman’s Cavalry at the National Archives confirms Neale’s service beginning with the Federal activation of his unit on August 11, 1814 and discharged on September 22, 1814 at Washington.
After the war, Neale lived in the city of Frederick, Maryland, and worked variously as laborer or porter, allowing him to purchase a home in the city. He and his wife Eleanor Thompson had eight children. Neale's son, Samuel, Jr., graduated from Avery College in Pittsburg, later becoming a professor at that college, a nationally recognized speaker, and active supporter of the Republican Party.
Samuel Neale died on June 15, 1872, in Frederick, Maryland and is buried in an unmarked grave in St. John’s Catholic Church in Frederick, Maryland. The Society of the War of 1812 is providing long-overdue recognition of this veteran with a grave marker noting his wartime service.