FIRST REGIMENT INFANTRY.

THE First Maryland Infantry was the first Maryland regiment mus-
tered into the service of the United States during the Civil War
for the preservation of the Union. On the 6th day of May., 1861
a recruiting office was opened at No. 112 West Baltimore Street,
Baltimore City, Maryland, by Capt. John C. McConnell, a citizen
of Baltimore City, under the auspices of General John R. Kenly
and other prominent loyal citizens of Maryland. In ten days'
time—that is, on the 16th day of May, 1861—four companies had been recruited, viz.:
Companies A, B, C and D, and were duly mustered into the service of the United States,
for the term of three years, as a part of the First Maryland Infantry Regiment.

Meanwhile, recruiting was going on in other portions of the City of Baltimore and in
the State of Maryland for the same regiment, so that by the 27th day of May, 1861,
Companies E, F, G, H, I and K had completed their quota, and all of said companies
were duly mustered into the service of the United States, thus completing the first
organized Maryland regiment accredited to the quota of Maryland in the great Civil
War.

The regiment immediately went into camp at the Relay House, on the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad, and remained there until the 6th day of June, 1861, when it moved to
Camp Carroll, nearer Baltimore City. Here Col. John R. Kenly assumed command of
the regiment, and it vvas at this camp also that the patriotic ladies of West Baltimore, on
the 18th day of June, 1861, presented the regiment with a regimental flag, the presenta-
tion being witnessed by a large concourse of patriotic and enthusiastic people.

Whilst encamped at Camp Carroll the regiment was fully armed, equipped, drilled,
disciplined and prepared for active field service.

On the 7th day of July, 1861, the regiment was ordered to proceed by the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad to Frederick City, Maryland, and from thence it marched by the old
national turnpike to Middletown, where it went into its first bivouac for the night.

The next day it marched to the Antietam and encamped on the banks of that now
historic stream; thence marched to Downsville, which was reached on the 10th, and
remained until the 23d day of July, when it marched to Williamsport, on the Potomac
river.

Several of the companies were immediately detailed for detached duty to guard the
fords and ferries of the Potomac river from the mouth of the Antietam to "Williamsport,
and whilst engaged in this duty had frequent skirmishes with the Confederates.

The regiment remained on the upper Potomac until October 16, 1861, when it
marched sixty miles to Darnestown to take part in the campaign that culminated in the
Battle of Ball's Bluff.

On the 2d day of December, 1861, the regiment marched again to the vicinity of
Frederick, where it went into winter quarters with General Banks' Division, but it was