Unit

Federal Regiment

1st Maryland, PHB

Organized: Frederick, MD; mustered in Aug - Dec 1861
Disbanded/Mustered out on December 1864

Commanding Officer:
Col. William P. Maulsby, Sr.

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
Brigade - Potomac (Maryland) Home Brigade

History of the Unit:
The First Regiment, Potomac Home Brigade, was a militia unit recruited in western Maryland and from Unionists in neighboring Loudoun County, Virginia. In the spring of 1862 the Regiment was with General Banks' Division in the Shenandoah Valley and then guarded the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in Maryland and Virginia. In May 1862, they were assigned to Harpers Ferry. On the 27th they skirmished with Confederates at Loudoun Heights, Va. Detachments continued on duty along the B&O RR.

In the Antietam Campaign:
In August, the regiment was part of the Federal force watching the Potomac between Sandy Hook and the mouth of the Monocacy. They were ordered into the garrison at Harpers Ferry on 5 September after the first of the Confederate units crossed the Potomac, beginning the Maryland Campaign.

They were captured with the rest of the garrison on 15 September and paroled on the 16th to Annapolis, Maryland.

The remainder of the War:
They were exchanged and served in Southern Maryland until the Gettysburg Campaign, where they were in action with the XIIth Army Corps. They took heavy losses in action on the Federal right on the 3rd day there, across the line from the 1st Maryland Infantry (Confederate) .

They returned to duty along the B&O until Early's raid of July 1864, when they saw action at the battle of Monocacy on 9 July.

The regiment's terms of service expired and most men were mustered out by December, 1864. Additional recruiting brought the core of veterans and newer recruits up to a full regiment, becoming the 13th Maryland in April 1865.

References, Sources, and other Notes:
Basic unit data above from Wilmer.1

Notes

1 Wilmer, L. Allison, J. H. Jarrett and Geo. W. F. Vernon, History and Roster of Maryland Volunteers, War of 1861-5, Volume 1, Baltimore: Guggenheimer, Weil, & Co., 1899, pg. 483
Maryland State Archives, Archives of Maryland Online, Published c. 2002, first accessed 01 January 2002, <http://aomol.net/html/index.html>, Source page: Volume 367, Page 483 [AotW citation 488]

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