:''This unit is not to be confused with the 1st Maryland Cavalry, Potomac Home Brigade''. The 1st Maryland Cavalry Regiment was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

of the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

Service

Companies organized and mustered in between April and August 1861 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, and served in the

Department of West Virginia Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

; in Hatch's Cavalry Brigade,

Department of the Shenandoah The Army of the Shenandoah was a Union army during the American Civil War. First organized as the ''Department of the Shenandoah'' in 1861 and then disbanded in early 1862, it became most effective after its recreation on August 1, 1864, under Phi ...

, from March, 1862; in the Cavalry Brigade, 2nd Corps (really the old 5th Corps),

Army of Virginia The Army of Virginia was organized as a major unit of the Union Army and operated briefly and unsuccessfully in 1862 in the American Civil War. It should not be confused with its principal opponent, the Confederate Army of ''Northern'' Virginia ...

, from June 1862; with the Cavalry Brigade, 11th Corps,

, from September 1862; various brigades/divisions, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Potomac, from January 1863; Provost Marshal General's Command, Army of the Potomac, from October 1863; from June 1864 in 10th Corps,

Army of the James The Army of the James was a Union Army that was composed of units from the Department of Virginia and North Carolina and served along the James River (Virginia), James River during the final operations of the American Civil War in Virginia. Histor ...

, then in the 3rd Brigade of the Cavalry Division, Army of the James, until April, 1865; cavalry and duty in the

Department of Virginia The Department of Virginia and North Carolina was a United States Military department encompassing Union-occupied territory in the Confederate States during the Civil War. In 1863 it was formed by the merging of two previously existing departmen ...

until mustered out in August 1865. The regiment particularly distinguished itself at the cavalry battles of Brandy Station and Gettysburg. During part of its time in 10th Corps, the regiment fought dismounted, and for the remainder was brigaded with the 1st Regiment New York Mounted Rifles.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment lost 3 officers and 65 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 3 officers and 130 enlisted men to disease.Civil War in the East 1st Maryland Cavalry Regiment

Commanders

Lieutenant Colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

James Monroe Deems (at Gettysburg)

Notes

{{Reflist

References

The Civil War Archive

External links