Capt. Benjamin Chew Howards 1st Mechanical Volunteers, 5th Regiment, Maryland Volunteers.
Killed by British advance forces at the outset of the Battle of North Point, 12 Sep 1814.
Believed by some to have fired the fatal shot that killed Major-General Robert Ross at North Point.
Memorialized with a stone monument erected and dedicated by the First Mechanical Volunteers in 1817 along Old North Point Rd. in Baltimore County.
Aquila Randall was born to James and Sarah Randall, ca. 1790. The Randall family were among the earliest of Maryland’s colonizers, with roots in the former colony reaching back to 1650 or earlier.
Not much is known about Aquila, but he was apparently held with high esteem by his comrades-in-arms of the 1st Mechanical Volunteers and its commander, Capt. Benjamin Chew Howard.
On 21 Jul 1817, Capt. Howard and the surviving members of his command would venture the six-miles from Baltimore to the site where Aquila gave his life that day in Sept 1814 to erect a monument in his honor. The monument’s construction was directed by Lt. Thomas Towson, a Baltimore area stone mason and marble cutter whose resume includes cutting and supplying sandstone for the building of the city of Washington, including cutting the columns for the U. S. Capitol.
“I can picture to myself the sensation of those who in far distant days will contemplate this monument and the melancholy event which has caused our assemblage at this spot… It is here where our citizens stood arrayed in soldiers’ garb… To mark this spot be then our care.” – Capt. Howard in his dedication speech.
The monument to Pvt. Aquila Randall is located off Old North Point Rd. in southeast Baltimore County and is easily accessible from the road. Be respectful of the neighboring (private) properties when visiting. More on his monument and its location can be found HERE
Aquila was originally interred in the Old North Methodist Burial Ground in Baltimore, located at the time in what is now the Northeast Area of Green Mount Cemetery; the cemetery purchased a portion of the old burial grounds when it was closed and sold to facilitate the expansion of North Ave. in 1877. Aquila’s niece, Elizabeth Harris, the daughter of his brother Elisha, brought Aquila, her husband, infant son, and two uncles to Green Mount on 8 Dec 1876. She had previously placed a cenotaph for them in her lot but had them all interred in the lot of Aquila’s brother Elisha, Area Z, lot 12. Aquila’s and the graves of the others were unmarked.
We were successful in obtaining a marker for Aquila Randall through the Veterans Administration in August 2020.
