Johannes
Schlosser was born in
Lebanon
County
Pa, the son of German
Immigrants. By 1775, Schlosser had moved to
Maryland. In June, 1775, at
the age of 21, Schlosser joined the Maryland Militia in the cause of freedom
and to fight the British. He was first sent to
Perth Amboy
NJ to help guard the
New Jersey coast from invasion from
England. He stayed
there until August 1776, when he ordered to Long Island
New York to participate in the
upcoming battle there.
On August 27,
1776, the
Maryland militia was positioned near the
Delaware Continentals on the Right Flank near Flatbush road on
Long Island. The night before, The British
forced a Tavern keeper to show them a route around the American lines so
they could sneak up behind them and attack them from the rear. At 6Am the
next morning, the British surprised the Americans by attacking them in a
frontal assault on their left flank and by attacking their rear
simultaneous. The left and center defense of the Continentals disintegrated
in the surprise attack. The Hessians and British Highlanders bayoneted most
of the Continentals to death. This put the right flank where the
Maryland militia was located in
a difficult position making it nearly impossible to escape. Most of the
Maryland Continentals and militia retreated with the
Delaware continentals while 250
Maryland Militia decided to
stay and fight the British allowing the rest of the Continental army to
escape. This 250 Maryland Militia led by Mordecai Gist being out numbered 25
to 1 attacked over 6500 British and Hessian troops six times in a frontal
assault . Out of the 250 men Only 10 would survive.
The battle of
Long Island was the worst defeat of The
Continental army in the Northern Campaign. Most military analyst believe if
Washington had placed troops from his Virginia light horse Infantry in a
position to guard the rear the surprise attack would not have happened. Also
General Nathaniel Greene was deathly sick that day and unable to participate
in the battle. Had he been able to participate, the out come of the battle
may have been different.
The next
battle Schlosser would participate in was the battle of
White Plains
NY on October 28, 1776.
Schlosser and the Maryland Militia were under the command of Col Haslett and
were positioned on Chatterton Hill. At the start of the
Battle the British 17 Dragoon
charged up the 180 feet high hill. It was the first Cavalry charge of the
American Revolution. The Americans were forced to retreat and cross the
Delaware River into PA.
The next battle
Schlosser would participate in was the battle of
Trenton
NJ on December 26, 1776. The
time period between December 25, 1776 when
Washington crossed the
Delaware River and January 3, 1777 at the
Battle of Princeton are considered the ten most critical days of the
American Revolution. During these 10 days,
Washington would cross an Ice field river
which most of his aides thought was impossible and win victories at
Trenton and
Princeton.
On December 5,
1776, Schlosser would arrive in Pa under the command of General Cadwalder.
During the battle of
Trenton, the
Maryland militia supposing was to attack a
British garrison south of
Trenton to act as a diversionary
Tactic. The
Maryland Militia was unable to
attack the garrison because their cannon got stuck in the mud.
Meanwhile at
the Battle of Trenton, Washington attacked the Hessian Garrison under the
command of Col Johann Rall. The Hessians were paid mercenaries in the
British Army. King George III paid the princes of
Germany over 100
thousand pounds (about 150000 dollars) for use of their troops. The Hessians
were in a drunken stupor from their Christmas party the night before. When
the Continentals attacked the garrison at 8 am most was still asleep.
When the
Hessians heard the alarms of attack they sprang to their cannons but were
unable to fire them because the powder was wet from the heavy snowfall from
the night before. The Hessians soon surrendered.
At the end of
the battle the Hessians had 22 killed, 92 wounded. The American had 4 killed
but 3 froze to death on the march to
Trenton because they were
barefooted.
The next battle
Schlosser would participate in was the Battle of Brandywine Pa In September
1777. At 4pm, The Maryland Militia under the command of General Sullivan
was attacked by a brigade of Hessian Grenadiers. Schlosser was severely
wounded in this battle. It would be the last battle he would participate in.
In 1779,
Schlosser would marry Christina Johannes (Johns). They would have 6 children
from this union. In 1799, Schlosser would move to Harlan County Ky. While at
Harlan, his children changed their last name to Slusher and decided to stay
there until this date. By 1835 Schlosser had moved to
Montgomery
County
VA when he died on June
1840. Today most of Schlosser descendents live in Harlan and
Bell
county
KY. Area