12 FIRST REGIMENT INFANTRY.

urated 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, includ-
ing 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. Du-
shane, 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 Wilder-
ness. 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