Maryland

One of the thirteen original States of the United States, and one of the Central Atlantic States. Maryland was first settled in 1631, by a party from Virginia, and in 1632 by a colony of Roman Catholic gentry from England, under a grant to the second Lord Baltimore, when it received its present name in honor of the English queen, Henrietta Maria. From 1642 to 1645 the Virgin i an and English colonies were at perpetual warfare, and the governor of the English colony, Philip Calvert, was obliged to leave, but in 1646 he returned, the rebellion having ended. Maryland took a prominent part in the two French wars, the Revolution, and the war of 1812-14, when it was twice invaded by the British, who were gallantly repulsed from North Point, near Baltimore, September 13, 1814, although they had gained a temporary triumph a few weeks before at Bladensburg. In the war of 1861-66, its sympathies were with the South, and the first blood of the war was shed in Baltimore, several Ma achusetts volunteers having been killed on their way to Washington. The State was the scene of several battles during the civil war, and suffered greatly from the contending armies. Maryland was organized as a State in 1776.