 By early November 1776 , the majority of the regiment 's officers and enlisted men had joined Washington 's Main Army while it was engaged in the battle for New York City during the New York and New Jersey campaign . They were initially stationed at Fort Washington on Manhattan Island and nearby Fort Lee on the opposite side of the Hudson River . On November 16 , most of the regiment was captured or killed during the Battle of Fort Washington . The riflemen were defending the northern end of the American position from a much larger force of several thousand Hessian troops . After heavy fighting that lasted most of the day and during which the Hessians suffered many casualties , the riflemen were eventually driven from the outer works into the fort where they and the rest of the outnumbered American garrison surrendered to the combined British and German attack force . Lieutenant Colonel Rawlings was commanding the regiment during the battle because Colonel Stephenson had died of illness in August or September and had not been replaced . About 140 of the regiment 's officers and enlisted men — one @-@ third of the unit 's total complement of about 420 men — were not present at the battle , however , because they were still completing organization and recruiting . A few enlisted men of the regiment who escaped from their captors within the short chaotic period following the battle augmented this remaining active force , which continued to serve with the Main Army . On December 1 , the first day of the army 's next regular reporting period following the fall of Fort Washington , Washington provisionally grouped these remnants of the diminished regiment into two composite rifle companies commanded by the unit 's highest ranking officers still free — Capts . Alexander Lawson Smith and Gabriel Long . Smith 's company comprised all the remaining Marylanders in the regiment , whereas the Virginians of the unit were placed under Long 's command . 
