The battalion then hurried on rapidly to Hanover Junction, whither it was supposed Sheridan was moving, where they united with the Second Maryland Infantry and Baltimore Light Artillery, when all prepared to give a good account of themselves should the enemy make his appearance.
It was but a little band of brave men opposing an immense army, and their destruction seemed inevitable, for General Lee had dispatched them to hold the point to the last, and that he had no reinforcements to give them. Quietly, as they stood in line of battle, they discussed the matter, and determined that the Maryland Line of ’64 should reflect no disgrace upon their hereditary name. But they were saved the sacrifice, for Sheridan, passing six or eight miles in their rear, marched directly upon Richmond.
In this affair at Beaver Dam, Captain A. H. Schwartz, of Company F, and Lieutenant J. A. V. Pue, of Company A, were painfully but not dangerously wounded, almost by the first fire. During the lull of hostilities, and before daylight, they were removed to the house of Mr. Redd, a kind Virginia gentleman, living about five miles from the scene of conflict. Here they were kindly cared for and rapidly improved, when General Lee fell back in the direction of Richmond, and they were left in the enemy’s lines, who immediately sent a force of two hundred cavalry to capture them. Upon an examination of their condition by the surgeon with the party, he declared it his belief that they would die if removed; but the officer in command, who seemed really ashamed of his brutal mission, said those were his orders, and he must obey them. However, he at last yielded to the entreaties of the ladies of the family, and reported the facts to General Gibbons, who, like the brute he is, gave imperative orders for their removal. This was done, and the two poor, suffering men were placed in an ambulance and started off, the guard stealing the covering thrown over them by the ladies of Mr. Redd’s family, before they had gone five miles. Being taken across the country to Fredericksburg, they were there placed on board a transport and conveyed to a Washington hospital, where, soon after their arrival, the gallant, whole-souled Captain Schwartz died, in great agony, and Lieutenant Pue suffered months of excruciating pain.
This is but another instance of the many thousands of Yankee brutality to Confederate prisoners, and yet these people prate continually about Confederate cruelty to prisoners of war.
On the day after the fight at Beaver Dam, General J. E. B. Stuart came up, and ordered Colonel Johnson to watch General Lee’s flank with the First Maryland cavalry, whilst he with twenty-five hundred horse threw himself between Sheridan and Richmond.
Stuart met the enemy at Yellow Tavern, and after one of the most dreadful cavalry combats of the war, he saved the capital, but lost his life.
In the latter part of May, Lee’s army fell back before Grant, and made Hanover Junction a point of defence. Sending for Colonel Johnson, he directed him to take Brown’s battalion and pass around Grant and see what he was doing, and especially his base of supplies. The little Command crossed the North Anna, below Lee’s right, and pursued its way around to Penola Station, on the Fredericksburg railroad, where Johnson discovered a heavy column moving down from Bowling Green, and at the same time ascertained that the enemy drew his supplies from Tappahannock. Turning to retrace his steps, he found the whole of Sheridan’s cavalry moving up through King William, in his rear, and all the fords on the lower Anna in his possession. This compelled him to cross higher up, which was effected by throwing the horses into the stream from a high bank, whilst the men crossed on a raft hastily constructed. He finally reached the main body in safety, having captured several couriers, from whom it was ascertained that Sheridan was coming up and Burnside moving down from Bowling Green.
On the 27th of May, Colonel Johnson was ordered to report with his cavalry to General Fitzhugh Lee, who was then at Hanover Court House. A short time after his arrival, the enemy crossed at Dabney’s Ferry, when by order of General Lomax he was directed to go down and drive them back. Upon his arrival, he found Colonel Baker, of the Fifth North Carolina, in command of Gordon’s old brigade, skirmishing with a force not far from the Ferry. Believing it to be a small body, it was arranged that Baker should hold them where they were, whilst Johnson passed around to their flank, by which movement it was hoped they would capture the whole of them. Taking a side road, he had not gone more than a mile before he encountered Baker’s pickets retiring in good order, followed by the enemy. Before he could deploy his men on some open ground on the side of the road, they were upon him in overwhelming force. The greater part of the battalion had unfortunately just passed through a gate into a field when the enemy attacked. A dreadful hand to hand fight ensued, and before the gate could be reopened for them to retreat, many were killed and wounded, among the latter the brave Brown, by several sabre cuts over the head. Being at length extricated from this dilemma, the command was drawn up on more favorable ground, and a determined stand made for thirty minutes. But it was soon perceived that the enemy were wrapping around the little battalion and threatening it with destruction, and the order was given to retreat. This was conducted for a time in an orderly manner, but the enemy pressing them hard, a rout ensued, in which every man was expected to look out for himself.
The battalion lost in this unfortunate affair between fifty and sixty men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Colonel Johnson and Lieutenant Colonel Brown made narrow escapes, the former having his horse killed and his sabre shot away, whilst the latter received several severe cuts over the head. If unfortunate for the Maryland battalion, however, it was fortunate for Baker, whose brigade of North Carolinians would most assuredly have been cut to pieces had the enemy not been held in check for a full half hour, thereby enabling them to escape. The force encountered turned out to be Custer’s brigade of four thousand men, supported by the rest of Merritt’s division of cavalry.
Among the officers captured at the fight at Pollard’s Farm, as it is called, was First Lieutenant George Howard, of company C, the particulars of which are too good to be lost, although it does seem near akin to profanity to laugh when so many were made to weep.