Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 37.djvu/243

Rh Messrs. Editors:  How many Marylanders served in the Confederate Army is an inquiry that is periodically made.

Maj.-Gen. Isaac R. Trimble, in a prepared address, delivered before the Society of the Army and Navy of the Confederate States in Maryland, on February 22, 1883, said:

"Gen. S. Cooper, Adjutant-General of our Government, told me in Richmond that over 21,000 Marylanders had entered the Southern armies."

General Trimble was a man of unquestioned high character and integrity. It must be remembered that the Adjutant-General's office contained the records of all the Confederate armies, including the nativity of all soldiers.

General Cooper was Adjutant-General of the United States Army before the war, and, having resigned early in 1861, was given the same position in the Confederate service. This statement, therefore, may be regarded as official.

General Trimble further said:

"General Lee often told me that he had much at heart the separate organization of the Marylanders. They are, he said, unrivaled soldiers, and, if brought together, we may get many other Marylanders to join us."

This was attempted in 1863, but it was then too late, as the Marylanders who were serving in other organizations were unwilling to leave their present comrades and associations, formed through the ties of many campaigns and battles.

They were found in every army and every organization, and were specially noted for their refusal to desert, although home and comfort awaited them.

Of the First Regiment General Trimble said that they "were the dandies of the army, better dressed, better shod, better drilled and in gayer spirits than any in the whole' army and never one deserter."