Maryland at Cross Keys

Maryland at Cross Keys. "How Anxiously We Watched the Sun Go Down". Among the troops defending this ridgeline during the battle were the 1st Maryland Infantry Regiment (Confederate) and the Baltimore Light Artillery, both positioned on the western end of the Confederate line, about 600 yards to your right. During the action, the 1st Maryland came under intense fire. One of the soldiers said, "so terrible was the enemy's fire that it was almost impossible to expose for an instant any part of the body without being struck." Situated on the imposing ridgeline, the Marylanders helped keep the attackers at bay. One recalled that "when a man would fall an officer would seize his gun and continue the firing.", The men fired so much that their rifles became "so hot and so foul [from black powder residue] that they could no longer be loaded or fired." The Marylanders were pulled back to clean their rifles in a stream, and then night fell. "How anxiously we watched the sun go down that evening," one recalled, "for we were well nigh worn out.", (sidebar) , The Talbot Boys Monument , The "Talbot Boys Monument" in front of you was first erected in front of the Talbot County Courthouse in Easton, Maryland, in 1916 to honor the men from Talbot County who fought in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. When the county voted in 2021 to take down the monument, and no alternative local site could be agreed upon, the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields National Historic District agreed to accept the monument to use as a memorial to Maryland troops on the Cross Keys battlefield., (captions) , Col. Bradley Johnson, born in Frederick, Maryland, commanded the 1st Maryland Infantry at Cross Keys, Confederate Gen. George H. "Maryland" Steuart, a native of Baltimore, commanded a brigade during the battle. Courtesy Library of Congress., Confederate Gen. Arnold Elzey, who was born in Somerset County, Maryland, commanded the brigade manning this section of the battlefield. Courtesy Library of Congress.