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7th_maryland_infantry

The 7th Maryland Infantry in Howard County

Five days at Relay House in September, 1862

Primary Sources
Archival and Secondary Sources

http://www.7thmaryland.com/7th_Md_Reg_t_History.php

“Compiled from original sources by Col. Charles E. Phelps, Brevt. Brig. Gen. U. S. V., at the request of the Commissioners, under the Act of 1896, Ch. 134, “to provide for the completion of the records of the soldiers, etc., accredited to the State of Maryland in the late Civil War, etc.”

This regiment was recruited from the northern line of Maryland counties, under the call of July 1, 1862, for “three years or the war.'' Toward the end of August, 1862, nine companies had been enrolled and mustered in Baltimore, and went into ” Camp Harford,” a spot now included within the limits of Druid Hill Park. The aggregate strength of the regiment at that time was 784 officers and men. Pressing exigencies of the service hurried it into the field before it had received its tenth company, the men recruited for which were mustered into other regiments. The tenth Company, K , was composed of the re-enlisted men of the Tenth Maryland (a six months' organization), and joined the regiment in April, 1864.

Material of the Regiment.

There were very few foreigners in this regiment. Most of the line officers and men were substantial farmers, mechanics and laboring men from the rural districts. Very shortly after they had come to know each other, a unanimous preference for the mounted service took shape in a formal but unsuccessful application to the War Department for transfer to the cavalry.

Two companies (C and H) were raised in Harford County, one (D) in Baltimore County, and one (F) in Carroll. Three (B, E and G) were recruited in Frederick County, and two (A and I) in Washington County. There was no city company in the Seventh until joined by company K, above mentioned, and this company was composed of young active men, clerks, etc., from Baltimore.

The Seventh Regiment was raised and originally commanded by Colonel Edwin H. Webster, of Harford County, a representative from Maryland in Congress. Lieut.-Colonel Charles E. Phelps, subsequently promoted Colonel, and later Brigadier-General by brevet, was a member of the Baltimore bar, and had been Major of the “Maryland Guard,” somewhat celebrated just before the war as a thoroughly drilled volunteer battalion, most of whose members went South. Major William H. Dallam was a prominent and highly esteemed lawyer of Harford County, and enjoyed the confidence of the entire community in which he lived. He had served the public in the capacity of Clerk of the Circuit Court and for many years as State's Attorney.

Adjutant George L. Tyler and Quartermaster Thomas S. Nesbitt were young gentlemen of prominent families in Frederick and Washington counties respectively. Surgeon James H. Jarrett and Assistant Surgeon (afterwards Surgeon) Robert K. Robinson were well-known practitioners of Harford County. The line officers, as a rule, were all highly respected citizens of their several counties. Two of the captains, Edward M. Mobley, of Washington County, and David T. Bennett, of Frederick County, were subsequently promoted in succession to the command of the regiment, made vacant by casualties of service. Captain Daniel Rinehart, of Carroll County, was a brother of the world-renowned sculptor.

First Service.

Early in September, 1862, the advance of Lee's army into Maryland occasioned frequent reports of the immediate proximity of his cavalry. The streets or Baltimore were barricaded, and before the Seventh had progressed so far in its tactics as the battalion drill, it was, on several occasions, ordered into line in expectation of a raid.

Maryland Brigade.

On the 8th of September, 1862, it was brigaded with the 1st, 4th, 6th and 8th Regiments of Maryland Infantry and Alexander's Battery of Baltimore Light Artillery, under the command of Brigadier-General John R. Kenly. From that time on, until muster out at the end of the war, the military history of the Seventh is mainly identified with that of the famous Maryland Brigade, composed of the organizations just named, with the exception of the Sixth and Alexander's Battery, subsequently assigned elsewhere.“

7th_maryland_infantry.txt · Last modified: 2019/06/21 17:24 by admin