June 6, 1864. }
General Order No. 26.
Lieutenant Colonel Ridgely Brown, commanding First Maryland cavalry, fell in battle on the 1st instant, near the South Anna. He died, as a soldier prefers to die, leading his men in a victorious charge. As an officer, kind and careful; as a soldier, brave and true; as a gentleman, chivalrous; as a Christian, gentle and modest; no one in the Confederate army surpassed him in the hold he had on the hearts of his men, and the place in the esteem of his superiors. Of the rich blood that Maryland has lavished on every battle field, none is more precious than this, and that of our other brave comrades in arms who fell during the four days previous on the hill sides of Hanover. His command has lost a friend most steadfast, but his commanding officer is deprived of an assistant invaluable. To the first he was ever as careful as a father; to the latter as true as a brother.
In token of respect to his memory, the colors of the different regiments of this command will be draped, and the officers wear the usual badge of military mourning for thirty days.
By order of Colonel Bradley T. Johnson.
GEO. W. BOOTH, A. A. G.
A correspondent in the Richmond Sentinel, who signs himself “A Virginian,” pays the following handsome tribute to his memory:
Of the many brave and noble men who have fought the invaders of Southern soil, and have died in defence of Southern homes and Southern rights, none deserve a higher tribute of praise, or a larger measure of thanks from the Southern people than Colonel Brown. A native of Montgomery county, Maryland, and a citizen of that State, at the commencement of the present war, it would have been but natural for him to have taken the passive attitude which was assumed by his State, where he would now in all probability be gladdening by his presence a large circle of relatives and friends, instead of throwing dark shadows around their hearts from his lowly grave in Virginia. But like many other noble sons of Maryland, he left his quiet and secure home to give his services to the Southern Confederacy, threatened with subjugation, and even extermination. He labored day and night in its service, and has poured out his life’s blood upon its altar.
He came to Virginia on the first day of June, 1861, and was mortally wounded on the first day of June, 1864, just three years after. He entered the army in the capacity of a private. In less than a year he was raised to the position of a lieutenant; he soon reached the rank of captain, and was then promoted to a lieutenant colonelcy. To each of those positions he was lifted by merit alone, and would probably have soon reached much higher rank, had not envious death closed his career.
Never was there an officer more beloved by his command, and never was there one who more deserved it. As brave as a lion in time of danger, he was as careful of his men as a mother of her children. His men say that when thrown upon his own responsibility he never led them into a position of peril without first examining it himself; nor ordered them to go where he was not ready to lead; and they felt perfectly secure under his leadership. After his promotion to the command of a regiment of cavalry, it was remarked that he was much more silent than before. A friend asked him the reason. He replied that so many lives committed to his charge involved a responsibility which pressed heavily upon him.