Statewide County MD Archives Military Records.....First Regiment Infantry Civilwar - Rosters ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/md/mdfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com July 23, 2007, 2:07 pm First Regiment Infantry FIRST REGIMENT INFANTRY. THE First Maryland Infantry was the first Maryland regiment mustered into the service of the United States during the Civil War for the preservation of the Union. On the 6th day of May, 1861 a recruiting office was opened at No. 112 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore City, Maryland, by Capt. John C. McConnell, a citizen of Baltimore City, under the auspices of General John R. Kenly and other prominent loyal citizens of Maryland. In ten days' time that is, on the 16th day of May, 1861 four companies had been recruited, viz.: Companies A, B, C and D, and were duly mustered into the service of the United States, for the term of three years, as a part of the First Maryland Infantry Regiment. Meanwhile, recruiting was going on in other portions of the City of Baltimore and in the State of Maryland for the same regiment, so that by the 27th day of May, 1861, Companies E, F, G, H, I and K had completed their quota, and all of said companies were duly mustered into the service of the United States, thus completing the first organized Maryland regiment accredited to the quota of Maryland in the great Civil War. The regiment immediately went into camp at the Relay House, on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and remained there until the 6th day of June, 1861, when it moved to Camp Carroll, nearer Baltimore City. Here Col. John R. Kenly assumed command of the regiment, and it was at this camp also that the patriotic ladies of West Baltimore, on the 18th day of June, 1861, presented the regiment with a regimental flag, the presentation being witnessed by a large concourse of patriotic and enthusiastic people. Whilst encamped at Camp Carroll the regiment was fully armed, equipped, drilled, disciplined and prepared for active field service. On the 7th day of July, 1861, the regiment was ordered to proceed by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to Frederick City, Maryland, and from thence it marched by the old national turnpike to Middletown, where it went into its first bivouac for the night. The next day it marched to the Antietam and encamped on the banks of that now historic stream; thence marched to Downsville, which was reached on the 10th, and remained until the 23d day of July, when it marched to Williamsport, on the Potomac river. Several of the companies were immediately detailed for detached duty to guard the fords and ferries of the Potomac river from the mouth of the Antietam to Williamsport, and whilst engaged in this duty had frequent skirmishes with the Confederates. The regiment remained on the upper Potomac until October 16, 1861, when it marched sixty miles to Darnestown to take part in the campaign that culminated in the Battle of Ball's Bluff. On the 2d day of December, 1861, the regiment marched again to the vicinity of Frederick, where it went into winter quarters with General Banks' Division, but it was not as fortunate as the major part of Banks Division, for it had hardly prepared itself for the inclement winter season when the regiment was ordered to march to Williamsport to repel an anticipated advance of the enemy into Maryland. After a midnight march the regiment reached Williamsport and learned that the enemy were operating further up the Potomac in an effort to destroy the locks on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. Promptly marching to the point of attack, the regiment aided in repelling the enemy. The headquarters of the regiment were established at Four Locks, and a number of companies detailed for duty at the crossings of the upper Potomac. Whilst on this duty, a number of attempts of the enemy were foiled and spirited engagements were had at old Fort Frederick, Cherry Run and Dam No. 5. The regiment continued on this duty until the night of the 7th day of January, 1862, when Col. Kenly, with Companies A, B, C, E, G and I, made a forced night march through a pitiless snow storm, over North Mountain to Hancock, Maryland, then being besieged by General (Stonewall) Jackson's Confederate Army. The arrival of the First Regiment of Maryland Infantry Volunteers and other reinforcements caused the enemy to speedily retire via Romney to their winter quarters at Winchester, Va. The First Maryland Infantry was now brigaded with the 46th Pennsylvania Infantry, 28th New York Infantry and 5th Connecticut Infantry, and constituted Williams' Brigade (3d Brigade), General Banks' Division (afterwards 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 5th Army Corps). The regiment, with the 3d Brigade, remained on the upper Potomac until the 28th day of February, 1862, when it marched to Williamsport, and on the 2d day of March, 1862, crossed the Potomac river into Virginia with Banks Division, and marched through a blinding snow storm to Martinsburg, Virginia, which was occupied without opposition. On the 5th day of March, 1862, the regiment skirmished with the enemy at Bunker Hill, and again on the 8th and 11th near Winchester, Virginia. On the 12th day of March, 1862, the regiment occupied Winchester, Va., after slight opposition with Williams' Brigade. On the 23d instant the regiment, whilst on the march from Winchester to Centreville, Va., was ordered to return immediately by a forced march to Winchester for the relief of General Shields Division, that had been attacked by General Stonewall Jackson's Confederate Army. Happily, General Shields had repulsed the enemy, and the regiment joined in the pursuit of the Confederates. Company B, of the regiment which had remained at Winchester on detached duty, took part in this Union victory. The regiment, with Banks' Division, continued the pursuit of the enemy up the Shenandoah Valley as far as Harrisonburg, when it slowly returned down the valley and, by order of General Banks, the regiment, under Col. Kenly, with two companies of the 29th Pennsylvania Infantry and a section of Knapp's Pennsylvania Battery, proceeded to Front Royal, Va., where, one week later that is, on the 23d day of May, 1862 this little command was attacked by the army of General Stonewall Jackson, 18,000 strong. The engagement that ensued reflected great credit on the regiment. If the enemy had succeeded in a speedy capture or annihilation of the regiment, the capture of General Banks' Army, only five thousand strong, then at Strasburg, would have been inevitable, as the enemy would have commanded the only practicable line of retreat. This little command had for several hours gallantly fought vastly superior numbers, crossed both branches of the Shenandoah river in the face of a heavy fire, with the enemy both in front and rear, contesting every foot of ground for several miles, until they were finally overwhelmed. The regiment lost fourteen officers and men killed, forty-three wounded, and five hundred and thirty-five captured. About two hundred and fifty men effected their escape under cover of the woods, and company E, on detached duty at Linden Station, eight miles distant from Front Royal at the time of the engagement, learning of the fate of the regiment, effected an orderly retreat. The sacrifice was not in vain; Col. Kenly had promptly advised General Banks of the condition of affairs, and, by his splendid defense, enabled Banks Division to effect a safe retreat from Strasburg. The remnant of the regiment proceeded, under orders to Baltimore, for reorganization, etc., where it remained until September, 1862, when the famous Maryland Brigade was formed, consisting, at the time, of 1st, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th Regiments of Infantry, together with Alexander's Battery of Baltimore Light Artillery. (The 6th Regiment of Infantry and Alexander's Battery were subsequently detached from the brigade and assigned to other commands.) On the 18th day of September the regiment, with the Maryland Brigade, left Baltimore under orders to join the Army of the Potomac, then on the Antietam. In November, 1862, the returned prisoners of war rejoined the regiment. The regiment continued on duty on the upper Potomac and constituted a part of the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 8th Army Corps. On the 9th day of April, 1863, the regiment and brigade proceeded by Baltimore & Ohio Railroad to Grafton, West Virginia, to repel an invasion by a large Confederate force. After an energetic but brief campaign the enemy rapidly retreated, and the command returned to Maryland Heights, opposite to Harper's Ferry, where it remained until the 30th day of June, 1863, when, as a portion of French's Division, it marched to Frederick, Maryland, by order of the War Department, in order to act as a reserve to the Army of the Potomac, then engaged in the Gettysburg campaign, and also to protect the Government at Washington. On the 6th day of July, 1863, the command was ordered to retake and occupy Maryland Heights, the enemy being in full possession and engaged in repairing the bridge that had been destroyed by Cole's Maryland Cavalry a few nights prior thereto, to prevent the enemy from capturing and removing the valuable ordnance stores on Maryland Heights. After a brisk engagement, the enemy were driven away and the Heights re-occupied. The brigade, of which the regiment was a part, now became the 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 1st Army Corps, which it joined July 10, 1863, near Boonsborough, Maryland, and aided in the final movements of the Army of the Potomac in Maryland, which resulted in the retreat of the Confederate army, under General Lee, into Virginia. The regiment crossed into Virginia again on the 18th day of July, 1863, with the Army of the Potomac, and participated in all of the active campaigns in Virginia inaugurated by General Meade, then in command of said army during the latter part of the summer, autumn and winter of 1863 and 1864. The winter of 1863 and 1864, spent by the Army of the Potomac on the Rapidan, was dreary, gloomy and severe. The consolidation of the Army of the Potomac into three instead of five army corps made the 1st Maryland Regiment a part of the (Maryland Brigade) 3d Brigade, 2d Division, 5th Army Corps. This consolidation necessitated the displacement of several valuable officers, including General Kenly, the former commander of the 1st Maryland Infantry, much to the regret of his old comrades in arms. The Government having offered strong inducements to the soldiers in the armies of the United States who had served in the field for two years to re-enlist for the war, about three hundred and forty of the 1st Maryland Regiment availed themselves of the offer, and about the 1st day of April, 1864, this portion of the regiment, under Col. Dushane, returned to Baltimore on a thirty days furlough, where they were received with high honors by the Baltimore City authorities, and thence furloughed to their respective homes. The balance of the regiment, under the command of Major B. H. Schley, remained in camp until the 3d day of May, 1864, when it moved with the Army of the Potomac, under General Grant's immediate supervision, to engage in the terrible Wilderness campaign. At midnight on the 3d the regiment moved out of camp and crossed the Rapidan river the next day at 12 M. On the morning of the 5th the regiment took its place in line of battle in the Wilderness. The Maryland Brigade, of which the 1st Regiment formed a part, supported the famous Iron Brigade, who were fired upon by the enemy covered by the thick forests and undergrowth. At a distance of forty paces the Iron Brigade returned the fire with visible effect, immediately charged with the bayonet and drove the enemy to his second line, who, being reinforced, drove back the Iron Brigade in confusion, to be repulsed in turn by the severe fire of the Maryland Brigade. So the tide of battle ebbed and flowed all day and far into the night, and the entire Army of the Potomac was more or less engaged, the losses on both sides being very severe. The battle was renewed on the 6th, raging with great fury and with frightful losses on both sides. To add to the horrors of the battle the undergrowth took fire, sending up great volumes of flame and smoke, in which many of the helpless wounded perished. The evening of the second day's battle left both armies substantially on the same ground. On the night of the 7th, General Grant inaugurated his famous flank movements that inspired the confidence of the Army of the Potomac in ultimate success under his guidance. About 8 P. M. on the evening of the 7th, the 1st Maryland, with its Corps (5th Army Corps), took up the line of march for Spottsylvania Court House; the night was intensely dark and the roads almost impassable. After a most fatiguing march, the command arrived on the battlefield of Spottsylvania Court House on the morning of the 8th, and immediately entered into the contest then in progress, one of the severest of the campaign. The 1st Maryland alone sustained a loss of fifty-three in killed, wounded and missing. Three of its color bearers were successively shot down. Two of the Maryland Brigade commanders were also successively shot down, as well as the Division commander. From the 8th to the 19th of May, the regiment was engaged in the constant manoeuvers and actions incident to the movements of the Army of the Potomac. On the 19th instant the original members, who had not re-enlisted for the war, received orders to return home to be mustered out after three years service. About the same time the veterans of the 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment, who had re-enlisted for the war, returned to rejoin the Maryland Brigade with the 5th Army Corps. On the march to the front with some heavy artillery regiments, they were attacked three miles from Spottsylvania Court House by Hood's Division of Ewell's Corps of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Col. Dushane promptly formed the Veterans without waiting for orders and made a counter charge. The artillery regiments coming up promptly under General R. O. Tyler, the enemy were repulsed, and retreated from the field, leaving their dead and wounded behind them. This action was known as the battle of "Harris Farm;" the loss sustained by 1st Maryland Regiment in the engagement was thirty-seven men killed, wounded and missing. On the morning of the 21st, the second of the series of flank movements by General Grant took place. The 1st Regiment and the Maryland Brigade, moving with the Fifth Army Corps, participated in all of the severe and steady fighting from the 21st of May. Cold Harbor was occupied by the Army of the Potomac on the 1st day of June. In the fight that followed at Cold Harbor the 1st Regiment conducted itself with great gallantry. Continuing its flank movement to the left, the whole Army of the Potomac was on the south bank of the James river by the 16th day of June, 1864. On the 17th day of June the regiment and brigade had reached the lines before Petersburg and participated in the first assault upon the enemy's lines at Petersburg; and, in fact, in all of the preliminary movements to capture the lines of communication and the stronghold itself at Petersburg, the 1st Maryland Infantry took a conspicuous part and suffered heavily. On the 14th day of August, 1864, the regiment and brigade took part in the movements against the Weldon railroad, resulting in the battle known as the battle of the Weldon railroad. On the 18th, in the open field engagement which lasted for several hours, the 1st Regiment suffered severely, the casualties in killed, wounded and missing amounting to fifty-seven. Every member of the color guard received severe wounds in this battle. In the series of engagements incident to the capture and holding of the Weldon railroad, one of the main arteries used in supplying Lee's army, the regiment suffered severe loss, including the loss of the gallant Colonel Dushane, who was killed by a solid shot on the 21st. On the 16th day of September the regiment assisted in the repulse of another attempt of the enemy to dislodge the 5th Army Corps from the Weldon railroad. On the 7th of December, 1864, the regiment, with the brigade and 5th Army Corps, also accompanied by General Greggs division of cavalry, cut loose from the Army of the Potomac, and started on a mid-winter raid to effectually destroy the Weldon railroad, well towards the North Carolina line, over which Lee's army was still drawing large supplies, by making a wide detour from the railroad terminus. The column marched nineteen miles to the Nottoway river, which it crossed on a pontoon bridge, and bivouacked for a part of the night; starting before daylight, the column pushed forward fifteen miles to the Halifax road, preceded by the cavalry, who drove before them small bodies of the enemy, who attempted to harrass and impede the rapid movements of the infantry. At six P. M. on the evening of the 8th, the column moved down upon the Weldon railroad and began its destruction southward from the bridge across the Nottoway, continuing its work day and night, until it reached Hicksford on the Meherrin river, on the 9th, where the enemy were found in force behind strong earthworks on the opposite side of the river. The object of the raid having been effectually accomplished, the column started back for Petersburg, marching all day over wretched roads, through a storm of sleet and snow, a distance of twenty miles, and bivouacked for the night; resuming the march the next day, the weather was found to be intensely cold, and the regiment suffered severely from exposure. The column reached Petersburg in six days from the time of starting, after forced marches night and day over horrible roads and in a constant storm of sleet and snow, during the severest winter of the Civil War, but the object of the raid had been thoroughly accomplished, and the Weldon railroad ceased to be an artery over which supplies could be brought to Lee's beleaguered army. During all of the movements to destroy the Weldon railroad the 1st Regiment and Maryland Brigade did their full share in the fighting, marching and suffering incident to campaigning in the inclement weather of the winter season. On the 5th day of February, 1865, the regiment and brigade, with the 5th Army Corps, entered on the campaign along Hatcher's Run for the purpose of destroying the South Side Railroad, culminating in the battle of Dabney's Mills, in which the 1st Regiment suffered severe loss, including its gallant Colonel Wilson, killed in the thickest of the fight on the 27th of March, 1865; the 1st Regiment and Maryland Brigade, with the 5th Army Corps and Sheridan's Cavalry, under the command of General Sheridan, marched around the enemy's right flank in the last grand movement inaugurated by General Grant, culminating in the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, the end of the Civil War and the preservation of the Federal Union. The battle of White Oak Road was followed by the splendid victory at Five Forks, resulting in the capture of 6000 prisoners, the loss of the enemy's artillery in fact, their utter rout and demoralization. This battle rendered the position of Lee's army at Petersburg untenable, and caused its evacuation simultaneously with that of the Confederate capital at Richmond. The Army of the Potomac promptly pursued the retreating army of Lee, capturing thousands of his men, with artillery and munitions of war. Night and day the pursuit was continued until, on the ninth day of April, 1865, the enemy was brought to bay at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, and compelled to surrender the last remnant of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The first division of the 5th Army Corps was detailed to receive the arms surrendered, consisting of seventeen thousand stands of small arms, one hundred and fifty-seven pieces of artillery, and seventy-one battle flags. On the 15th day of April, the 1st Regiment left Appomattox Court House with the 5th Army Corps on its return to Washington, passing through the Confederate capital at Richmond en route. On the 23d day of May, 1865, the 1st Regiment formed a part of that splendid army of 100,000 men from the Army of the Potomac who passed in review at the capital of the nation at Washington before the President of the United States and General Grant. On the 2d day of July, 1865, the 1st Maryland Regiment of veteran infantry was mustered out of the military service of the United States, at Arlington Heights, Virginia, and proceeded thence to Baltimore, Maryland, where the regiment was paid off and finally discharged. The death casualties incurred by the 1st Maryland Infantry were as follows, viz.: killed in action, eight (8) commissioned officers and one hundred and ten (110) enlisted men; total, one hundred and eighteen (118). Died of disease, wounds, etc., one (1) commissioned officer and one hundred and forty-eight (148) enlisted men; total, one hundred and forty-nine (149), or an aggregate loss of two hundred and sixty-seven (267). List of Battles, etc., in which the First Maryland Infantry Regiment Participated. ( The letter following the name of the battles indicate the companies engaged; where no letters appear, the whole regiment was engaged.} Shepperdstown, Va., September 9, 1861 (E and G); Cherry Run, Md., December 25, 1861 (A); Fort Frederick, Md., December 25, 1861 (H); Kernstown, Va., March 23, 1862 (B); Front Royal, Va., May 23, 1862 (A, B, C, D, F, G, H, I and K;) Maryland Heights, July 7, 1863; Funkstown, Md., July 12, 1863; Haymarket, Va., October 19, 1863; Wilderness, Va., May 5 to 7, 1864; Laurel Hill, Va., May 8, 1864; Spottsylvania, Va., May 9 to 20, 1864; Harris Farm, Va., May 19, 1864; North Anna, Va., May 23 to 27, 1864; Shady Grove, Va., May 30, 1864; Bethesda Church, Va., May 31 to June 1, 1864; Cold Harbor, Va., June 2 to 5, 1864; Assault on Petersburg, June 17 and 18, 1864; Siege of Petersburg, 1864 and 1865; Weldon Railroad, Va., August 18 to 21, 1864; Poplar Grove Church, Va., September 30, 1864; Chapel House, Va., October 1 to 3, 1864; Peebles Farm, Va., October 7 and 8, 1864; Hatcher's Run, Va., October 27, 1864; Hicksford Raid, Va., December 7 to 12, 1864; Dabney's Mills, Va., February 6, 1865; White Oak Road, Va., March 31, 1865; Five Forks, Va., April 1, 1865; Appomattox Court House, Va., April 9, 1865. Additional Comments: Extracted from: HISTORY AND ROSTER OF Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-5 PREPARED UNDER AUTHORITY OF The General Assembly of Maryland, BY L. ALLISON WILMER, J. H. JARRETT, GEO. W. F. VERNON, State Commissioners. VOLUME I. 1898 PRESS OF GUGGENHEIMER, WEIL & CO. BALTIMORE, MD. Electrotyped. Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1898, by Geo. W. F. Vernon, L. Allison Wilmer, J. H. Jarrett, Commissioners for the State of Maryland, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mdfiles/ File size: 23.6 Kb