An historian and former curator of archaeology at the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs will present the history of the Delaware Regiment in the American Revolution.
While Delaware did not see much action in the state during the Revolution, the same can’t be said of the Delaware Regiment. Charles Fithian is the historian presenting the talk this weekend.
“Their first major engagement was the Battle of Long Island," he says. "All the way through just about every major campaign in the north. And then when the Maryland and Delaware Division was sent south, they were in just about every major fight there as well.”
Appearing on battlefields up and down the new nation, the Delaware Regiment gained a name for itself in the Continental Army.
“These guys acquired a reputation for discipline, reliability," Fithian said. "Washington called upon them several times to kind of get the army out of trouble.”
Fithian says the regiment is still around today, having fought in every US war, and is still active as the 198th Signal Battalion in the Delaware Army National Guard.
Fithian’s talk, “An ‘Unsurpassed Soldiery’ – The Delaware Regiment During the American Revolution” is Saturday at 10:30 am at the Delaware Public Archives in Dover.
