I do not believe there were any 4th Regulars in the Eastern Theater in
July, 1864. At that time the 4th was part of Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign
in Robert Minty’s “Saber Brigade” – 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, Cavalry
Corps, Army of the Cumberland. Companies L & M were “created in the
field” at Nashville, November, 1862.

Companies A & E had been assigned to Headquarters, Army of the Potomac as personal escort to General McClellan, April – December 1862
and were “loaned” to Burnside during the Battle of Fredericksburg, December `3, 1862. They rejoined the Regiment in Nashville in late
December. All 12 Companies of the Regiment participated in the Battle of
Franklin, Tenn., April 10, 1863.

Does anyone know the name of the 4th Regiment officer in question?
Many times, officers of the Regular Cavalry were assigned to help train
new volunteer companies.

Major J. S. SCHULTZE,

Assistant Adjutant-General.

MUTTONTOWN, MD., July 8, 1864.

I moved with command to the edge of Hagerstown this evening and sent an officer and thirty men into the town and beyond. There were a few rebels in the town that we chased out. I discovered one of their camps of about 200 men about one mile from town on the Sharpsburg road. Some reliable citizens told me that there was another camp on the Funkstown road of a large force, and the men that passed through the town belonged to several different commands, and I suppose there is a much larger force in the vicinity than we are aware of. The enemy burned the hay and engine-house, and also some of the grain. I did not have time to find out what other damage was done except the plundering of several stores. Lieutenant Torrence, of the Fourteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, the officer who was in command of the twenty-five men that were captured when I was forced out, in he town, badly wounded; also two of my men unable to be moved. The citizens say that about twelve of the men that were captured escaped from the rebels. I have been trying to do as much as I could with my little command and am now completely fagged out, both men and horses; many of my horses have given out entirely. The many roads that I have to picket and patrol keeps more than half of the command out all the time. Please send me more rations, also a ration of whisky for my men.

H. T. McLEAN,

First Lieutenant, Sixth U. S. Cavalry, Commanding

Eric, would the Martinsburg group be the same as the Ft. Stevens or Snicker’s Ferry group, or another one? Yes, I’d say some unraveling is needed here.

Don, good suggestion about Starr – but I’d say if one wanted just one volume on the whole war (and depending which side of cavalry you wished to concentrate on) I’d go with either of those Longacre volumes.
J.D.

Billy

For your purposes, I’d recommend Stephen Z. Starr’s The Union Cavalry in the Civil War, Volume I. It’s eastern theater specific, and runs from the outbreak all the way through Gettysburg. It should help tie the developing Union cavalry situation into your campaign nicely.

Don

That would be fabulous and would be greatly appreciated if you wouldn’t mind doing that for us.

Eric

The answer is that the dismounted men were sent back to Giesboro Point for remounting. A bunch of them were sent to fight against Early’s invasion with Benjamin F. Kelley at Martinsburg. I edited the memoir of a sergeant of the 5th Michigan Cavalry who was one of those men, so we have some idea of how it transpired.

This one is, I think, going to be a challenge to unravel.

Eric