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B re-enlisted. Those of C, H and I elected to wait until their term hail expired
before doing anything in the matter, many of them preferring other branches of
the service to that of the infantry.

The companies which remained with the regimerit (A and B being off on
furlough) performed picket duty near Sangster's Station, on the line of the
railroad. On March 9, 1862, a picket post and a portion of its reserves, belonging
to Company F, all under command of First Lieutenant Richard D. Hough,
were charged by a detachment of the First New York (Lincoln) Cavalry, and
in the fight that followed Lieutenant Joseph H. Stewart and fourteen men of
Company F were captured, one of them, Sergeant Edward Sheehan, being
slightly wounded. Lieutenant Hidden, who commanded the attacking cavalry,
was killed.

Prior to this affair it had become evident to General Johnston and the
Confederate Government that the large and splendidly equipped army under
McClellan, which had been drilling for months near Washington, was about
to assume the offensive. In view of the weak condition of Johnston's army, it
was decided to dismantle the works around Centreville and Manassas, send all
ordnance and commissary stores to a place of safety, and then abandon Manassas.
On the night of March 8, 1862, all being ready, the order to march next morning
was issued. What little had to be left behind was destroyed, and when
McClellan reached Manassas all was loneliness and ruin. There was no foe to
fight, no victory to strive for, nothing to compensate for the time and treasure
spent in marshaling and equipping the great army which was to destroy the
Confederacy. Johnston marched his troops along the Orange and Alexandria
railroad until they reached the Rappahannock. They crossed that river to the
south side, which was held by General R. S. Ewell with his division, whilst
Johnston marched the remainder of his army to Richmond. To Ewell's division
Elzey's Brigade was attached.

An advance of the enemy from Manassas was now expected daily, and the
piers of the railroad bridge were mined and filled with explosives to be fired
whenever McClellan's vanguard appeared. The First Maryland and the Balti-
more Light Artillery were assigned to duty on the river front, and one day in the
early part of April keen-eyed watches saw emerging from the distant woods on
the opposite side of the river, first a long line of cavalry, next infantry and
then artillery. A shot or two from the Baltimore Lights sent the cavalry
galloping in every direction, and then the infantry skirmishers were thrown
forward, advancing steadily toward the river. Company A, First Maryland,
under command of Captain W. W. Goldsborough, was now deployed and thrown
forward to meet this skirmish line. Thanks to Colonel George H. Steuart's
training, the movement was beautifully executed. General Elzey declaring that
it could not have been surpassed by a company of regular soldiers.