The 2nd Maryland Infantry, CSA (known initially as the First Maryland Battalion), was a Confederate infantry regiment made up of volunteers from Maryland who, despite their home state remaining loyal to the Union during the American Civil War, chose instead to fight for the Confederacy. The regiment was largely made up of volunteers from the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA, which was disbanded in August 1862, its initial term of duty having expired. They saw action at many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War, taking part in the brutal fighting at Culp's Hill at the Battle of Gettysburg. The unit suffered such severe casualties during the war that, by the time of General Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, only around forty men remained.
History
Disbandment of the 1st Maryland Infantry
In August 1862 the 1st Maryland Infantry, CSA was disbanded at Gordonsville, Virginia, at the expiry of its initial twelve-month term of duty. The 1st Maryland Infantry was a regiment of the Confederate army, formed shortly after the commencement of the American Civil War in April 1861. The unit was made up of volunteers from Maryland, and saw action at the First Battle of Manassas and in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign. In September 1862 its former commander, Colonel Bradley Tyler Johnson, and many members of his staff offered their services to General "Stonewall Jackson".
Formation of the 2nd Maryland Infantry
After the disbandment of the 1st Maryland Infantry, the rank and file soldiers of the former regiment found themselves in a precarious position. They were unable to return home to Maryland, having effectively committed themselves to the Confederacy for the duration of the war. With little choice but to fight on, many went on to join other units of artillery, or cavalry, while others waited to form a new Maryland Infantry Regiment. The new unit was known as the 1st Maryland Battalion until officially re-designated in January 1864 as the 2nd Maryland Infantry. The change was made in order to distinguish it from the original regiment.
Several former officers of the 1st Maryland, such as Captains William Murray, James Herbert, and Lieutenants George Thomas, Clapham Murray and William Zollinger began to recruit veterans for the new regiment, and in addition fresh recruits from Maryland.
Soon, two companies under Captain Murray and Captain J. Parran Crane were formed, followed by three more. By October 1862 more than five hundred men had joined the unit, now a battalion, which was soon assigned to the command of General George Hume "Maryland" Steuart' in Winchester, Virginia. The new battalion held an election in which Captain Herbert was elected to the rank of Major. In November the Battalion was assigned to the command of General William "Grumble" Jones (so called because of his cantankerous nature), who had taken command of Thomas T. Munford's brigade of cavalry.
Eventually the Battalion grew in size, and new elections were held. The commander of the old regiment, Colonel Bradley Tyler Johnson, was duly elected Lieutenant Colonel, but he declined the offer. In the end Major Herbert was elected Lieutenant Colonel, and Captain W. W. Goldsborough, who would later go on to chronicle the history of the Maryland Line in the Civil War, was elected Major.
Winter of 1862–63
The regiment spent the harsh winter of 1862–3 in the Shenandoah Valley, without seeing action. Few of the men were equipped with tents, most slept in the open on the frozen ground and, according to Goldsborough, "it was no unusual thing to see several hundred men arise from a covering of a foot of snow that had fallen during the night." In May 1863 the regiment was united with the Baltimore Light Artillery and Company A of the 1st Maryland Cavalry (CSA), as Colonel Johnson, under orders by the Secretary of War, began to organize the various Maryland units under one command, with a view to forming for the first time a true Maryland Line in the Confederate Army.