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SECOND MARYLAND INFANTRY.

CHAPTER I.

AFTER the disbanding of the First Maryland Infantry, the men who had
composed it took various directions. Some of them had become tired
of the infantry arm of the service, and not many days after their discharge
they had entered the ranks either of some Maryland cavalry or artillery command.
The majority of them, however, made their way to Richmond to enjoy a well-
earned vacation.

But these true sons of Maryland, who had exiled themselves from their
homes and State to battle for the South, soon tired of the tinsel and glamour of the
Southern Capital. Its gaily-dressed officers, strutting the streets day after day,
had no attractions for them. Among this gay throng of officers and civilians they
were mortified to see many from their own State who had been in Virginia as
long as themselves, and who were willing to accept any position under the
Confederate Government that did not compel them to go to the front. It was
no wonder, then, that these veterans soon began to long once more to hear the
sound of battle. They had gone to Virginia to offer up their lives in a cause they
held most dear, and they felt that every day passed away from their comrades in
the field only the more betrayed the sacred trust reposed in them by fathers,
mothers, kinsmen and sweethearts at home.

Among the veteran officers of the old First who had gone to Richmond
were Captains William H. Murray and James R. Herbert, and Lieutenants
George Thomas, Clapham Murray and William P. Zollinger, and it was to these
officers that the men of the old regiment looked forward to for the formation of
companies, and who would once more lead them against the enemy.

At this time many young men were arriving in Richmond from Maryland,
especially from Anne Arundel and the lower counties, although every county
in the State was represented among them. These young men had come to
Richmond to espouse the cause of the South, as had the members of the
disbanded First Maryland, and they were eager for the formation of companies.
The first company to be formed was that of Captain William H. Murray, of
Baltimore City, and the next that of Captain J. Parran Crane, of St. Mary's
County, and they were mustered in the same day, an unfortunate circumstance,
as it gave rise subsequently to considerable discussion, and no little feeling, as to
the seniority of the companies. At the instance of Captain Crane the matter was
brought to the attention of the Secretary of War, who issued an order to Captain