Epilogue

Abstract

On September 6, 1823, Guy Vermillion, “aged seventy two,” appeared before the First Judicial District Court, whose jurisdiction encompassed Charles, Prince George’s, and St. Mary’s counties on Maryland’s lower western shore. He was there to claim a war pension. Back in September 1776, he had enlisted in Patrick Henry’s Virginia regiment and had fought at “the battles of White Plain, Trenton, Brandy Wine & German Town.” At the last of these encounters “he was wounded in the Thum & was obliged to be amputated.” The court noted that he qualified for an unspecified sum because he possessed “neither real nor personal property” and was “in such indigent circumstances as to be unable to support himself without the assistance of his country.” The court gave him at least some of the assistance he needed, but Mr. Vermillion was evidently unable to live the American dream of economic independence that would have allowed him to support himself in his old age.¹