Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.life From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Maryland blue bloods not all garbed in gray Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 16:22:11 EST Message-ID: \SE B;LIFE;THE CIVIL WAR;LETTERS \HD Maryland blue bloods not all garbed in gray I was greatly disappointed to read Robert Lyon Mayall's article on Maryland troops in the Oct. 24 issue of the Civil War page. Mr. Mayall seems to be simply passing on folklore created after the war as part of the "Myth of the Lost Cause." Although many Marylanders of distinguished lineage fought for the South, just as many fought for the North. In Maryland, as in many other border areas, how a man made his living - as farmer or mill worker, etc. - and how his friends and neighbors felt about the issues - slavery, states rights, etc. - often decided his loyalty. To say that the men of the 1st Maryland U.S.A. were of "recent social emergence" is untrue. They were, in many cases, of a different social class and held differing political views and simply did their duty as they saw it. Mr. Mayall has several points wrong about the battle of Front Royal. First, because of the enlistment question in the 1st Maryland C.S.A. (the men said they enlisted for one year; the Army said three), there was much bitterness, and Col. Bradley Tyler Johnson had nearly 100 arrested for insubordination. Second, Col. John Reese Kenly and his federals (the 1st Maryland, Knapps' Pennsylvania battery, Companies B and G of the 29th Pennsylvania, Companies B and D of the 5th New York Cavalry) fought stubbornly, setting fire to the bridge over the Shenandoah River and delaying the Confederates for more than six hours. Third, the 1st Maryland U.S.A. did not lose its colors to the Confederates. The state flag was ripped to shreds by the men as they were about to be captured, and the national color was hidden in some woods, where it was found by a patrol from the 1st Vermont Cavalry and returned to Kenly after his release in mid-1862. For more information on the battle of Front Royal and the Maryland troops, I recommend "Historical Record of the First Regiment Maryland Infantry (U.S.)" by Charles Camper and J.W. Kirkley, published by Butternut & Blue (1990), and "Personal Reminiscences of a Maryland Soldier in the War Between the States" by George Wilson Booth, 1st Maryland C.S.A., Butternut Press (1986). JAMES D. OWENS Silver Spring This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM