The old flag which had so often moved in victory was saluted for the last time, and reverently taken from its staff and folded away. The last weeping word was spoken, and with breaking hearts the old battalion disbanded forever, some riding slowly away, others at full speed as if to fly from grief.
In their wanderings the exiled soldiers depended entirely upon the kindness and hospitality of the Virginia people. They had no money or means to supply their wants—nothing but their destitution and soldiers life to plead. But Virginia people did not forget their services, and hastened eagerly to relieve their necessities. At the end, as in the beginning, and through the progress of the war, the warm-hearted kindness and genuine hospitality of the Virginians adorned them with a lustre equal to their valor in battle. The soldiers of the First Maryland cavalry must cease to have hearts or memories when they forget the Virginia people and their devoted attentions.
CHANGES
In the First Maryland Battalion of Cavalry.
The following changes took place among the officers in the battalion during the war:
Gustavus W. Dorsey, Lieutenant Colonel commanding, vice Lieutenant Colonel Ridgely Brown, killed June 1, 1864.
Major Robert C. Smith having been permanently disabled by wounds received in battle at Greenland Gap, April 25, 1863, and retired from active service with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, no one was commissioned to fill vacancy.
John E. H. Post, promoted Adjutant with rank of First Lieutenant, vice George Booth, promoted A. A. G. on General Bradley T. Johnson’s staff.
Company A.—Thos. Griffith, promoted Captain, vice Captain F. A. Bond, disabled in battle at Hagerstown, July, 1863, retired from active service with rank of Major.
J. A. V. Pue, First Lieutenant, vice Griffith, promoted.
Otis Johnson, private, commissioned Second Lieutenant, vice Edward Beatty, died in prison.