"[37] The 1st Battalion, comprising companies A, B, E, H, and M, loaded on box cars Monday, March 31 for Harper's Ferry, by way of Frederick and joined the " Railroad Brigade" commanded by COL Dixon Stansbury Miles, which guarded the important logistical route.

The small garrison (COL John Kenly, his Union 1st Maryland Infantry, and Companies B and D of 5th New York Cavalry[55]) at the Front Royal station was to prevent rebel movement along the Manassas Gap rail line.

By 07:00 on May 24, 1862, a Saturday, MGEN Banks at Strasburg wired Secretary Stanton when he confirmed that Jackson's 17,000 had completely routed the garrison at Front Royal "with considerable loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners.

In "one of the smartest moves he made all day,"[68] Banks erred on the side of caution, sent messengers to LTC Douty, then waiting for the rear of the column at Toms Brook, to come up to headquarters with his command.

Jackson sent BGEN George Hume Steuart, in command of the 2nd and 6th Virginia Cavalry, ahead of the infantry to three miles north of Nineveh and cut west, off the roads and cross country to Newtown on the Valley Pike between Middletown and Winchester "to observe the movements of the enemy at that point.

With the stone walls alongside the road leaving no other option, at point-blank range, they charged:[97] As the column had moved out, Douty had mounted his horse and rode toward the head of the Vermont companies to join Collins.

Luckily for those who were able to put some distance between themselves and the enemy, the presence of abandoned wagons from Banks' train loaded with supplies provided a welcome distraction as more and more of Trimble's and Taylor's men left the firing line to rifle through it.

While Ashby's cavalry were able to capture some more of the dismounted men, the Maine horseman found that by using pistols and sabers in small groups, they were able to fend off their pursuers who eventually ceased pursuit to join the infantry in the plundering the abandoned wagons.

"[110] As Hatch's brigade swept back and forth at the rear to keep the occasional pursuer at arm's length[111] the outnumbered Federals fled relatively unimpeded for 35 miles in 14 hours, crossing the Potomac River into Williamsport, Maryland after dark around 21:00, Sunday evening.

[115] On Tuesday, forty odd men arrived with COL DeForest of the 5th New York Cavalry with thirty-two wagons of supplies that they had managed to spirit away from Confederate hands at Middletown, having been forced by rebel pursuers to cut through the mountains and ford the Potomac upriver by Clear Spring.

[149] On Tuesday, April 15, Company C under CAPT Dyer made a patrol down the Orange & Alexandria to the Rappahannock where they saw black slaves building earthworks on the opposite side of the river north of the railroad.

The next evening, Wednesday, April 16, LTC Willard Sayles, commander of the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry, took a squadron of his regiment and Companies D and F of the 1st Maine on a patrol toward Liberty Church to interrogate and arrest the reported rebel informants.

Instead of taking a dirt track (present day Farley Road) which went through a wood and low land, Stowell accepted the guide's suggestion to ride along Fleetwood Hill that gave a view of the river and railroad as well as of the surrounding country, thus precluding being surprised by the enemy.

[154] After several successful foraging and scouting expeditions that netted a handful of prisoners, on Friday, May 9, the brigade, now commanded by BGEN Hartsuff, received orders to pack its gear and move to Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock, twenty-five miles to the southeast.

Entering the town, the U.S. troops found "not a solitary person appeared in sight, but hundreds of unfriendly eyes were peering through all manner of crevices, expecting momentarily to see the torch applied to all places whence shots had been fired and hot water thrown on the morning of the twenty-fifth day of May.

Due to the confusion and the large number of prisoners taken in the valley in May and June, forty or more 1st Maine troopers who were being transported to Richmond at this time succeeded in escaping and eluding their guards and rejoined the company in a day or two.

During this exchange, the troopers of the 1st Maine who had remained with the regiment in Washington D.C. received their baptism of fire but lucked out with poor aim on behalf of Early's gunners followed by the higher priority of the Federal infantry and artillery on the ridge to their right.

[214] Throughout the late afternoon and early evening, the 1st Maine remained on the extreme left flank finding "that this passive service, this being merely interested spectators, this waiting in expectancy of being called into action, [a] much harder experience, and more trying than would have been active participation, no old soldier will question for a moment.

[216] The Confederate infantry and the 1st Maine's Shandoah Valley foe, the 7th Virginia Cavalry, now commanded by COL William E. "Grumble" Jones' pursued the retreating Federals, nearly capturing Banks and Pope at their headquarters.

On Monday, the regiment advanced south, but was stopped at the battlefield by a flag of truce and two companies were detailed to assist the ambulance men in recovering the dead and woumded from the field thereby seeing first-hand the "horrors of war".

[215][note 44] Finally, receiving news that all of Pope's army had arrived at Culpeper Court House, on August 12, Jackson fell back on Gordonsville to a more defensive position behind the Rapidan River.

Despite initial confusion and frenetic activity, COL Allen had the men in line at Brandy Station athwart the Raccoon Ford Road just behind a rise that screened their presence from the advancing Rebels.

Lee's new plan in the face of all these additional forces outnumbering him was to send Jackson and Stuart with half of the army on a flanking march to cut Pope's line of communication, the Orange & Alexandria Railroad.

[257] As a growing retreat followed, they were posted across the Warrenton Turnpike between Henry And Matthews Hills and received the order, "draw sabre," to stop troops from leaving the field; despite their great efforts, the regiment were overwhelmed by the numbers.

The year would be the turning point in the Eastern Theater, and the severity of the service to which the men of this regiment were subjected during the campaigns of 1863, may be inferred from a bare recital of the battles in which they were subsequently engaged and from data showing some of their heaviest losses.

[270] By the evening of April 19, Stoneman had the command shed "all men and horses not in good condition, and all extra baggage, to the rear, and prepare for long and rapid marches, day and night, as the cavalry was about to show an indulgent government that the money and pains taken to render this arm of the service efficient was not thrown away.

The 1st drew rear guard duty again and were instructed to build large numbers of fires around Louisa to deceive the 500 odd rebel cavalrymen who had mixed it up with CAPT Tucker and monitored the expedition from a distance.

As the elements were regrouping, Stoneman found that a brigade-sized contingent under Kilpatrick (not including the 1st Maine) sent southeast had been cut off by an aroused rebel cavalry and forced to return to Union lines down at Yorktown.

In the last action, the Maine men had learned the valuable lesson that that cohesion gave them power and safety in numbers as demonstrated in Douty's two charges in the open ground and Smith's turn to dodge grape and shell from the rebels.

When Gregg found himself actively engaged in close combat on the east side of the hill at Snicker's Gap Turnpike, he recalled the 1st Maine ordering them to wheel right and attack over the crest with sabers drawn.