Answer.com reports Ringgold is Samuel Ringgold, of this bio: http://www.answers.com/topic/samuel-ringgold Though Wikipedia reports it is actually his son, who was a hero in the Mexican American war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ringgold_%28soldier%29 This timing makes more sense. Wikipedia lists Watson as "Lieutenant Colonel William H. Watson (?-1846) commanded the Battalion of Baltimore and District of Columbia Volunteers in the Mexican-American War. Prior to that, he had been a captain in the Independent Blues Company of the 5th Maryland. He was killed in the Battle of Monterrey in September 1846." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Watson Here is an account from someone at the Battle of Monterey: http://www.hillsdale.edu/Personal/Stewart/war/America/Mexican/1846-Monterey-WB .htm and the official report: http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/documents/monter1.htm I wonder if Lowe was Enoch Louis Lowe, Governor of Maryland from 1851-1854? http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/sc1500/sc1545/e_catalogue/html/o bjects/1545_1023.html though that seems out of place, since he seems to have no military background to be "fearless". He was reportedly the youngest governor ever elected in Maryland. Interestingly, the original poem listed at the Library of Congress says "with feareless Lowe but where is May?" No one else quotes that version though. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID%2B@lit(as108500) ) I haven't found anything about May - could it be connected to the Baltimore riot of 1861 that inspired the author to write the poem? Mollie In a message dated 8/12/2006 5:19:55 AM Eastern Daylight Time, tms@nj.net writes: This is a little off-topic, but does anyone know who the Watson, Lowe, and May mentioned in the 4th verse of "Maryland, My Maryland" are? Come! 'tis the red dawn of the day, Maryland! Come with thy panoplied array, Maryland! With Ringgold's spirit for the fray, With Watson's blood at Monterey, With fearless Lowe and dashing May, Maryland! My Maryland! Ringgold is one Samuel Ringgold, at least according to Wikipedia.

MDfamilygal@aol.com wrote: > Answer.com reports Ringgold is Samuel Ringgold, of this bio: > http://www.answers.com/topic/samuel-ringgold > Though Wikipedia reports it is actually his son, who was a hero in the > Mexican American war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Ringgold_%28soldier%29 This > timing makes more sense. > > Wikipedia lists Watson as "Lieutenant Colonel William H. Watson (?-1846) > commanded the Battalion of Baltimore and District of Columbia Volunteers in the > Mexican-American War. Prior to that, he had been a captain in the Independent > Blues Company of the 5th Maryland. He was killed in the Battle of Monterrey in > September 1846." > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Watson That was me, using the information from the replies here. I'm pretty sure, given the martial context, that the Ringgold son was meant. > Here is an account from someone at the Battle of Monterey: > http://www.hillsdale.edu/Personal/Stewart/war/America/Mexican/1846-Monterey-WB > .htm > and the official report: > http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/documents/monter1.htm Thanks. I had already checked the DMWV site's casualty lists for Lowe and May, without success, except for: Bvt. LTC C.A. May of the 2nd Dragoons Cpl Thomas Lowe, Co. B, 8th Inf. Lt. Wm. May, USN, U.S.S. Mississippi none of whom seeme likely. > I wonder if Lowe was Enoch Louis Lowe, Governor of Maryland from 1851-1854? > http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/speccol/sc1500/sc1545/e_catalogue/html/o > bjects/1545_1023.html > though that seems out of place, since he seems to have no military background > to be "fearless". He was reportedly the youngest governor ever elected in > Maryland. I agree that "fearless" seems inappropriate for a governor, after the author just named two people killed in action. > Interestingly, the original poem listed at the Library of Congress says "with > feareless Lowe but where is May?" No one else quotes that version though. > http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/amss:@field(DOCID%2B@lit(as108500) > ) There are other differences in the versions, as well. The LOC version seems to be a printed version, not necessarily the original. I would trust the State Archives version. > I haven't found anything about May - could it be connected to the Baltimore > riot of 1861 that inspired the author to write the poem? Possibly, but I would expect the names to be more well-known than a couple of rioters. -- Thomas M. Sommers -- tms@nj.net -- AB2SB