1st Maryland Battalion Zouave company was formed from the remnants of the 1st Maryland Regiment when the enlistment term ended for the regiment. In early summer of 1863, 1st Maryland Battalion (later 2nd Maryland regiment) was assigned to Steuart's Third Brigade, a force of around 2,200 men, in Major General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's division, part of General Ewell's 2nd Corps in the Army of Northern Virginia. The brigade's former commander, Brigadier General Raleigh Colston, had been relieved of his command by Lee, who was disappointed by his performance at the Battle of Chancellorsville. The brigade consisted of the following regiments: the 1st Maryland, the 1st and 3rd North Carolina, and the 10th, 23rd, and 37th Virginia. Rivalries between the various state regiments had been a recurring problem in the brigade and Lee hoped that Steuart would be able to knit them together effectively. However, he had only been in command for a month when the Gettysburg Campaign got under way.
In June 1863 Lee's army advanced north into Maryland, taking the war into Union territory for the second time. The Marylanders were jubilant to be returning to their home state. Steuart is said to have jumped down from his horse, kissed his native soil and stood on his head; according to one of his aides: "We loved Maryland, we felt that she was in bondage against her will, and we burned with desire to have a part in liberating her". Quartermaster John Howard recalled that Steuart performed "seventeen double somersaults" all the while whistling Maryland, My Maryland.
Johnson's division, including the 1st Maryland, arrived at Gettysburg late in the afternoon on July 1, 1863, taking position on the far edge of the Confederate left at the foot of Culp's Hill; the men were exhausted after a 130 mile forced march. Culp's Hill was a rocky wooded hill topped by a line of well fortified enemy breastworks.
On July 2 the Confederates attacked the hill, with the 1st Maryland, the 10th, 23rd and 37th Virginia regiments, and 3rd North Carolina regiment, all assaulting the Union breastworks, defended by General George S. Greene's 12th Corps. The Marylanders and others were initially able to breach the works and drive out Green's men, and they held their position until the next morning, July 3.
The morning of July 3 revealed the full scale of the Union defenses, as enemy artillery opened fire at a distance of 500 yards with a "terrific and galling fire", followed by a ferocious assault on the Marylander's position. The result was a "terrible slaughter" of the Third Brigade, which fought for many hours without relief, exhausting their ammunition, but successfully holding their position. Then, late on the morning of July 3, General Johnson ordered a bayonet charge against the well-fortified enemy lines. Steuart was appalled, and was strongly critical of the attack, but direct orders could not be disobeyed. The Third Brigade attempted several times to wrest control of Culp's Hill, a vital part of the Union Army defensive line, and the result was a "slaughterpen", as the First Maryland and the Third North Carolina regiments courageously charged a well-defended position strongly held by three brigades, a few reaching within twenty paces of the enemy lines. So severe were the casualties among his men that Steuart is said to have broken down and wept, wringing his hands and crying "my poor boys". Overall, the failed attack on Culp's Hill cost Johnson's division almost 2,000 men, of which 700 were accounted for by Steuart's brigade alone—far more than any other brigade in the division. At Hagerstown, on the 8th July, out of a pre-battle strength of 2,200, just 1,200 men reported for duty. The casualty rate among the First Maryland and Third North Carolina was between one half and two-thirds, in the space of just ten hours. There is no better example of a state caught between two sides than what occurred at Culp's Hill, where the Union 1st Maryland Eastern Shore faced the Confederate 1st Maryland Battalion. Color Sergeant Robert Ross of the Union regiment was a cousin to Color Sergeant P.M. Moore of the Confederate battalion, who was wounded several times and captured by his neighbors.
Colonel Wallace of the Union 1st Maryland wrote, "The 1st Maryland Confederate Regiment met us and were cut to pieces. We sorrowfully gathered up many of our old friends and acquaintances and had them carefully and tenderly cared for." Included among these dead was the battalion's mascot, Grace. Union General Thomas Kane recalled, "He licked someone's hand, they said, after he was perfectly riddled." Kane ordered the dog given decent burial "as the only Christian minded being on either side."
After Gettysburg, during a review of the Army of Northern Virginia, General Johnson commented to General Robert E. Lee as the Marylanders marched past: "General, they were as steady as that at Gettysburg." Aware of the casualties taken by the Marylanders at the recent battle, Lee honored the regiment, now reduced to Battalion strength, by removing his hat to the men.
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